Age Matters?
by dreamscapenymph
Summary: Five years after class 3D's graduation, everyone meets up to surprise Kumiko. Afterwards, Shin and Kumiko are surprised to find out they were forcefully engaged, and the age difference they thought existed never did! ON HIATUS.
1. The Reunion

AN: I have edited this! Especially the breaks and wrong info!! Thank you everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gokusen. I also do not own japan, or wherever the setting is. But I do own this fic so please bear with the wrong info. After all, what matters is the story right? RIGHT? Ehehe. 

Age Matters?

Chapter 1

The Reunion

"Oooh…Nice morning!" Yamaguchi Kumiko exclaimed as she woke up, seeing the sun's rays filtering through her screened wooden window. She gpt up and got dressed in her usual—jeans and a shirt underneath a sweater, and proceeded to do her early morning chores. After cooking breakfast for everybody, she tied her hair in pigtails, slipped on her glasses and carried the backpack she always brought to school. It was already her sixth year in teaching in Tomoeda high school, and all of the hardest and most violent students were given to her, but so far, she has handled all of them. You could say that these troublesome sections were her forte. Why wouldn't she, when she has all of the years of practice of gang battle behind her, as the heiress to the Ooedo clan. So far no wrong people had discovered her secret, only that one guy in the very first section she had handled—Shin Sawada. She was inexperienced then, but now she had mastered the art of hiding her true identity from her class. Still, she did not regret that Sawada and his gang knew. His class was her first, and that was the class that she held very dear to her heart. They were the first students she had; she was the first teacher to sympathize with them and control them; and in the end they had all became good friends.

"I wonder where they are now; they should have finished their studies in college three years ago. I wonder why they have not returned to see me or Shiroken," she said. But deep inside, she knew. Her boys suffered many hardships in the school—abuse by the teachers and withering looks from their classmates—that's why they grew up to be the tough guys that they were. "They should be twenty-four by now. My high school boys! They will be all grown up and probably working now. Funny what five years does to you and to the people you know. It was just five years ago when I started being a teacher, when I met those dear boys. I wonder where they are right now; I hope they could visit their old teacher by and by." But truth was, as she walked to the school, nothing much has changed to the Yankumi (as her students fondly called her) outside. She was still the same small, skinny, perky girl. Five years has only made her mature experience wise, but she still had the same hidden beauty she had five years ago.

Skipping towards the school entrance and all the way to her desk in the office she said hello to everyone she knew. It was a happy day—she just knew it. Something good was going to happen to her. And it was beside the fact that it was her twenty-sixth birthday. When she reached the office, she was surprised by her co-teachers with a large birthday cake, while they were singing, "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday, Kumiko, Happy Birthday to you!"

"Oh, guys, you shouldn't have, I'm surprised, thank you very much!" She said, grinning to everybody. A full swing celebration then took place, ten minutes just before the bell rang. Wine was passed in so early in the morning and all the teachers and staff was happy for Kumiko, greeting her personally as they approached her.

"Happy twenty-seventh, Kumiko!"

"Yes, happy twenty-seventh, though you don't look a day older! You're still the perky Kumiko!" Said her two girl co-teachers. Kumiko just smiled.

"Twenty seven and still very pretty!" Detective Shinohara said.

"Oh, Detective you're here!" Kumiko exclaimed, while blushing at what he had just told her.

"Yup, I couldn't miss this little party, you know. Especially Kumiko's birthday. Happy twenty-seventh!" He smiled. Again, Kumiko blushed and slapped his arm, "Oh, you shouldn't have, what about your duties?"

"They can wait—this is an important occasion."

"Anyway, I'm glad you're here." Kumiko told him before moving on to talk to the other teachers. She was grinning to herself. _They think I am 27 when I am actually 26._ She had forged her age so that she would be accepted as a teacher in the school five years ago at the age of 21. She was smart, and she was accelerated by a year when she was younger. The administration did not receive applicants under the age of 22 so she tweaked her resume and birth certificate a little to say that she was a year older so that she could fulfill her dream to be a teacher. This was also one of the many things the administration, and come to think of it, anyone, has still not found out about her.

The bell rang, and everyone scrambled to get to his or her respective classes, and Detective Shinohara said goodbye to everyone. They shouted goodbye back to him and everyone said "Happy Birthday" again to her. _Everyone is so sweet_. Kumiko thought. _Especially Shinohara_. They had gone out for a few times, but aside from a petty happy crush, he was nothing more than a friend to her. She had pretty much gotten over him, but still there were little flutters in her heart whenever they flirted together. Both of them had admitted to each other what each other felt—just overanalyzed admiration. Both were back to becoming friends—closer in fact, than they were ever before.

She would never admit to herself that the one for her was Shin. During the night she would often stay late, wondering where her former student was. He was smart, and as long as he checked himself every so often he was going to be okay—successful in fact, if he played the odds right. Yes, she was his teacher years ago, and as they grew closer, as she finally understood the real Shin, she gradually harbored a crush on him. But she often set aside this feeling as another feeling of admiration for all of the things Shin had put up with. And it did not help that Shin was the only person who truly knew her—who had seen her cry, had helped her in distress, had seen her fight, and fought alongside with her. Yet she still brushed it away—excusing it as just a feeling of fondness for the quietest but smartest student in her first class.

But again, not seeing him for five years did not wane the feeling. In fact, it seemed to grow stronger as the days went by. Now, she couldn't seem to sleep without thinking of Shin, and she often gazed and smiled at their class picture, where there he was at the center. He was just standing with his hands in his pockets, his signature pose, but he was smiling. And his smile was genuine, which was a sight since he only smiled sometimes. _Stop it Kumiko! He is too young for you._ But the truth is, the age gap was not that big—two years, if based on her true age. But what Shin knew was that she was 27, not 26, and a three year gap is big when you come to think of it. She sighed. She really had to stop thinking about that quiet guy with the most handsome face she had seen whenever it smiled. She had harbored many secret crushes over the years in different men, but it was not as long as she kept this one. Imagine, five years!_ I have really lost my grip. I have a crush on a twenty-four year old boy, who I have not seen for five years, and kept it for that time! Not to mention that he was my former student. _But his face and antics still returned to Kumiko every now and then, such as this time. _Absence does make the heart grow fonder. I miss him badly, badly than my other students. I could scoff to myself right now for even having delusions about Shin Sawada. But I will not admit that I am in love with him. He was just a petty crush years ago that seemed to have never left me._ She tried to convince herself over and over again as she went to her classroom. She was very preoccupied when she went in and proceeded to just go to the blackboard and wrote out the outline of the day's lesson without so much as a greeting to her students. This was not what she always did, since she often met class with a perky smile and "Hi!" when she went in. But now she was very preoccupied with thoughts of Shin Sawada that she just up and wrote on the blackboard. She was about to voice out what was written on the board (still facing it) when she heard a very familiar voice shout out, "Yankumi!" The very voice made memories rush back to her. Memories of a fat guy with a very round, fat face that you couldn't almost see his eyes anymore. A boy who was crying for his dead father, promising to her and to everyone that he will take over their family business of noodles after taking culinary arts at college, vowing that he will make his father very, very proud. And as these very memories flooded her, she slowly turned her head around, very, very slowly, to see the class 3D, the first class 3D that she handled, in front of her.

"Kuma?" _Am I dreaming? _ She blinked her eyes two, three times, but it was really what she saw, everyone in back in their same place—Kuma, Minami, Noda, Uchiyama, everyone, in their respective places and desks, in the same positions as they had five years ago, with nothing changed except for their faces, which matured a little. And way, way out in the back, in the lone desk he always occupied, with his elbow propped in the desk and his half-asleep eyes staring at her, was Shin Sawada, ever handsome.

Again she blinked her eyes many times, causing Shin to say out in that quiet monotonic voice of his that always held her entranced, "Yankumi, are you sick?" _It really was them, she was not dreaming, it really was her section 3D!_ Her eyes watered, and she proceeded to cry out.

"You guys, it really is you! Where have all of you been for the past five years! Why haven't you seen me in all of those years? What happened to your dreams? Have you finished college? What has happened to all of you?!?!" This she said while bawling out in front of everyone, fresh new tears streaming from her eyes down to her face.

Eventually everyone came rushing to the front, to comfort the crying Yankumi.

"Yankumi, aren't you happy to see us?"

"We went here to see you, since we haven't seen you for many years, we wanted to surprise you, aren't you happy you saw us?"

"We have missed you very much Yankumi!" They all chorused together, but in the end, Shin's voice became audible as he said, "Are you okay? Why are you crying?"

_That boy. How can he say those words and sound very concerned even when he stands aloof from everyone?_

After sniffling out, she answered, "Guys, I'm just very happy to see you, that's why I am crying now, so don't worry okay? But where have all of you been? I have missed all of you so, so much!" And she began to cry again.

------

The moment she had walked in the door, Shin couldn't take his eyes off her. Five years had not done much to her; she was still pretty much the same beautiful Yankumi who was his homeroom teacher years ago. She was still perky, and the fact that she was supposed to be 27 didn't make her any bit older. Shin was not surprised that seeing her again made his feelings spark up even more. For five years he had tried to go away from her, very afraid of his strong feelings for his former teacher. Long ago, he had realized to himself that he had fallen in love with his teacher, but knowing that student-teacher relationships were a definite no-no in any society, he told himself to keep it. But that did not stop him from vowing to himself that he would at least confess his feelings to her. But after graduation, he went away, partly because of college, and partly because he wanted to test himself and the feelings he had for her. He often controlled himself from going over to their house and visit, and never went to see her. He only contented himself with little pieces of gossip he always heard from other batchmates and schoolmates, and was very hurt to find out that she and Shinohara were going out. As much as he wanted to go and interrupt them, he held himself, controlling himself, trying to test his feelings if they were indeed true. She was the first woman he had ever tried to love, and he was very wary of love as a feeling. He tried not to think of her every night and every time of day that he would drift off into dreamland, but all of his effort was clearly in vain. For five years he did this, only to find out that he indeed loved her, not only in the past tense, but also in the present. Boy, was he happy when he heard that nothing came out of Yankumi and Shinohara's dates. He shook his head. _Kumiko_, he said to himself,_ I must call her Kumiko for she is no longer my teacher. _ But this reminder did not stop him from calling her Yankumi when he talked to her. He sighed. _She is only going to think of me as her student again. _This was what hurt him more, that Kumiko was only going to think of him as her student. If only he could tell her his true age. Yes, his true age. _I am not 24 as you think I am, Yankumi, no Kumiko. I am 26, just one year younger than you, not three, as you have always thought._ He had to skip school for two years because he wanted to flee from his father's clutches. But he had not told the school this. He had faked the documents so that he could be accepted, thus, continuing his studies. Instead of 21, he wrote 19 years old in the school forms. Little did he know that this nonexistent age was going to be the reason why he could not be together with Yankumi. _Kumiko! _He scolded himself. _Must call her Kumiko!_

As much as he missed her, he could not hug her in front of everyone without bringing suspicions to himself, so he just returned to his high-school-Shin mode—an aloof and quiet guy. But he didn't expect that she would cry and break down. The strong Yan—Kumiko had broken down when she saw them. In a flash he realized how tormented she must have been in not seeing her former students and not having heard news from them.

He was glad that he had arranged for this surprise on the day of her birthday. All of his other friends and classmates were very enthusiastic of this plan. It turned out that they, too, had missed Yankumi, and wanted to see her, but have all been very busy in college and work to come see her. Although at the first two years some people visited her, the visits began to slow down because of various responsibilities. So they were very happy when he called every single one of them and proposed (commanded, really) that they go surprise Yankumi on her birthday. And so here they were.

When she started to cry he felt his defenses crumble, and he rushed to comfort her—but he wasn't the only one. The people in the front were the first to get to her, and offered comfort and explanations. He was concerned, very concerned, but eventually everything became okay because it turned out she was very happy to see them. She should be angry, really, because they had not talked to her for years, but here she was, happy that she had seen them at last. _And believe me, Yankumi, I am also very happy that I saw you at last. _

------

It turned out that Shin had planned everything for her—the surprise.

"You know, Shin, you should be reprimanded for giving my students the day off today, but right now, I am happy I will allow you to do such things. Oh, how much I missed you guys!!!" She exclaimed in just one breath, and proceeded to hug everyone she could put her hands on, including Shin.

"Whoa, Yankumi, okay, okay, just stop crying okay?" He said, his skin tingling from her unexpected touch. His wish to hug her before was fulfilled—only that it was she who hugged him.

"Okay, I will stop crying." She sniffled, herself surprised by what she just did. _Kumiko, calm down, you are acting like a teenage girl! _

------

"Hahahahaha! What students Yankumi!" Noda exclaimed. They were now celebrating in a shabby restaurant somewhere, drinking and eating to their heart's content and laughing at her present students' antics.

"You guys, you know drinking is bad but since you aren't high school students now, you may do it. But remember it is still bad!" Yankumi reprimanded.

"Oh, Yankumi, will you stop and just celebrate?" Uchi said.

"Oooh, you guys!" Her eyes were starting to get teary again. Beside her, Shin rolled his eyes.

------

It was already two o'clock as Shin carried the now-drunk Yankumi back to her house. As he was the only one who knew her address, he was the only one who did it. And besides, he was the only one who remained sober. The others offered to help him, but they were also inebriated so he just shooed them all into their respective houses.

As he opened the house using her keys, he didn't bother to wake up her family, since they will just be shocked seeing their heiress drunk. _For a person who reprimanded us for drinking earlier, she sure is knocked out. _She was now drifting in and out of consciousness. But apparently, she knew it was he who was carrying her. _She is so light, even though drunk._ Shin couldn't help but feel the tingle he felt earlier when she hugged him. Her side was pressed against his side as he carried her up the stairs, through the door and finally inside her room and down to her bed. He couldn't very well undress her so he just laid her down, took off her sweater and shoes and covered a blanket around her. While he was putting her down she latched her arms around his neck and hung her head over his shoulder. Shin sighed. He was determined not to react to her drunken "advances", if they can so much be called as advances.

"Yan—Kumiko, let go, I have to put you down." He said. She slowly lifted her head to look him unflinchingly in the eye.

"Kumiko, eh? You starting to grow up, Sawada?" She looked in his eyes, her own half-drooping. He held her gaze, and it dropped to her lips. As she pushed back a lock of his stray hair from his forehead, he started to lean towards her. But in the next split-second her head hung once again, destroying the moment. Shin shook his head. _Man, control, Shin, control!_ He reproached himself and proceeded to lay her down the bed. He tucked in the covers around her, and before she drifted to sleep she gave him the sweetest smile he could ever imagine. He chuckled to himself and shook his head. And before he could regret it, and before he had a chance to think and stop himself, he swooped down and kissed her on her smiling lips.

Kumiko was already dead to the world as he went out of the bedroom and out of the house, careful to lock everything as he went out.


	2. Memorable Fumble

Author's Note: Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! It's nice to get reviews of your first fic. Ehehe…thanks for the suggestions! Anyway, the first chapter has been published and I guess we can't change the facts anymore…just please bear with my wrong infos!!!:) nyehe…But I have decided to adapt the true high school's name, Shirokin. And shhhh…nyaha…And please continue to read and review:) But I have edited this!

Age Matters?

Chapter 2

Memorable Fumble

_Oooh. My head hurts so much. What happened last night?_ Kumiko thought, glancing around at her surroundings, trying to familiarize where she was and what had happened last night. It came to her in flashes: her drinking a shot too many in the bar that they went to after dinner, Sawada bringing her home to a very quiet house, and then black.

_Oooooh. It really hurts. What a hangover. How many bottles have I sloshed down? I should call Sawada to ask him what I have done last night. _She clapped a hand to her mouth. _Oh no. What_ did_ I do last night?_ Kumiko knew that when she was drunk she tended to spill everything to the people around her. And who knows? _What if I had made a fool out of myself last night? And in front of Sawada, who else? Oh no! _Again she shook her head. _Why should I care? He is just Sawada, and he is familiar to my usual antics. But still…Aaah! I am a fool, talking to myself!_ She looked at the clock. "I'm late!" She shouted and began to rush, forgetting the plan to call Shin altogether.

"I'm so sorry for not doing the chores today, Grandfather!" Kumiko said.

"It's okay; you're entitled to a small break every now and then. Go, and have fun at school!" Kuroda answered. Kumiko smiled, forgetting for a moment that she was late, and realizing it at the next. She started to run.

------

"You were never late like this, Yankumi!" The once vice principal of the school, who was now the principal added, "If you do this one more time I will fire you! Now, hustle off to class 3D! "

_Crazy people! Fine! I'm going!_ She thought, but to the vice president she just nodded, and took off to classroom 3D.

"Guys, I am so, so sorry to be late like this. But anyway let us go and start the lesson for the day: math! Happy calculus everyone!" Finally, after talking again to the blackboard she turned around… and gasped.

"Yankumi, you really are getting much acquainted with the blackboard!" Minami said jokingly.

"Why are you late Yankumi? Gotten swept off last night?" Uchi said, and the whole room erupted into laughter.

"Guys? You're here again?" Happiness could not be mistaken in Yankumi's voice and face, amidst the laughter.

"We're exchange students. We just told our new classmates." Kuma said, winking at her.

"Where _were_ you last night, Yankumi?" shouted out a student from her present class. Minami, Noda, Uchi, Kuma all laughed. Sawada smiled. Yankumi took a glance at the combination of the faces: her present students confused and expectant for an answer, four faces grinning mischievously, and one absent-minded face with a small hint of a smile.

"Honestly?" She asked the, wondering why Sawada looked preoccupied and reminiscent.

"Yes, Yankumi!" chorused thirty voices.

"Why don't you ask your new classmates, the exchange students from—?"

"Korea," supplied Minami. Yankumi wanted to burst out in laughter as thirty pairs of eyes turned to Minami, Noda, Ichi, Kuma. Their own eyes turned to Sawada, and the thirty pairs of eyes followed. He seemed to feel their stares on him, for he apparently woke up from his daydream just enough to manage a cough and a reply, "Uhm. Uhm. O-O-Out for a drink." Then he regained his composure and said, "Everyone was roaring drunk at about one o-clock am, including Kumiko."

At the mention of her first name, Kumiko had a flash of a very hazy scene where she also heard the same voice saying Kumiko, then an almost-kiss. She shook the thought away. _Perhaps that was just one of my many dreams about Shin and me._ Immediately ashamed at what she was thinking she focused herself on what Shin was saying.

"…She was so heavy! I carried her all the way to the house, and left her at the living room of her house. How my arms ached after that! Such a heavy person, but well, what would you expect from Ya-Kumiko?" He was saying.

"Hey!" Kumiko said, and everyone laughed.

Kumiko began to reprimand everybody for taking up the class time telling gory stories. "Aaw, Yankumi it was not gory!" said a student. She silenced him with a Look. The five stifled a laugh. They could remember a time when that Look did not mean anything.

"It's either Yankumi is doing better or these kids are just weak!" Noda said.

"I vote for the latter!" Uchiyama quipped, and the five of them laughed.

Kumiko was writing equations of derivations on the board and Shin was just gazing at her, remembering what she said the last night, "Kumiko, eh? You starting to grow up, Sawada?" and the evident confusion of her expression when he called him Kumiko while he was telling his tale earlier. _I purposely left a few facts behind, Kumiko. Like the fact that we almost-kissed and that I kissed you later. As you said, the story is gory. Ha. Really gory. I wonder what will be your expression once you knew what really happened last night. Perhaps I'll tell you another time, but not now. Just be assured that I will treasure what happened, and I'll never forget our first kiss._

"Yo, Shin! What's happening to you? You didn't daydream as much as you did last time as compared to today!" Kuma exclaimed.

"What? Oh, sorry, a lot of things on my mind." He answered.

"Kuma! Sawada! Why don't you try solving these problems? I have a feeling you two are very brilliant exchange students!" Kumiko said, thoroughly enjoying playing "teacher" to them again.

"Oh no, I have forgotten about this, Shin!" Kuma said.

"Just follow what I write on the board," he said, as they approached the blackboard and the malicious smile of their very pretty, former teacher, who was obviously enjoying getting back at them for that story earlier.

------

Later, in her desk in the faculty room, Yankumi laughingly replayed the scene on the classroom earlier on her mind. As she did, she began to notice that some of the things Sawada said did not fit into place. _He said that he dropped me off at the living room, but why is it that when I woke up, fully clothed, I was in my bed? He couldn't have possibly woke up the other people in the house for they apparently did not have any recollection whatsoever that I went home drunk last night at 2 am. _ Instantly she saw the scene of her and Sawada's almost-kiss again. _It seemed so real, but I am quite sure that that can never happen. _She shook her head and banged it lightly on her desk. "I must be going crazy!" She exclaimed aloud, burying her head in her hands

"Yankumi going crazy?" a male voice said, appearing at her side.

"Yes, I am, all because of—" Automatically she clapped a hand over her mouth. _Drat. My mouth starts talking on its own and I don't even know to whom I am speaking to._ She lifted her head and sheepishly grinned at Shinohara, who was carrying a bouquet of slightly wilted flowers.

"Because of a what?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Hey, hi! Is that for me?" She said to him, trying to sway him from the topic.

"Where were you this morning Yankumi? I was waiting for you outside the school as always, carrying this bouquet of flowers, as always, and you weren't there. Don't tell me you have forgotten our "early morning swaying ritual." Ha said accusingly.

Kumiko laughed. Their "early morning swaying ritual" consisted of Shinohara giving her flowers every morning at the front of the school gates. It started at first when they were going out, and it had continued even after they had decided to separate, because they still wanted to remain friends, and besides, giving and receiving flowers had become a habit for them that they had missed it so much and decided to revive it, even though they were just friends now. Another thing, they enjoyed swaying their colleagues, who thought that they were only friends, but upon seeing Shinohara giving flowers to Kumiko, couldn't help but feel confused. Thus the "early morning swaying ritual," that could have only been named by the playful Kumiko.

"Oh, sorry! Don't worry, Detective Shinohara, I will still accept them, see," she said, accepting the nearly wilted flowers and placing them in a vase with water. She tapped his arm and said in a stage whisper,"I got drunk last night. But its nothing."

"What? Drunk? Who took you home?" Concern was etched in the friendly detective's voice. Kumiko laughed again. "Sawada and the others did. We were just having a little homecoming celebration for my former students," she said, and nodded over at Shin, who was walking toward their way.

------

All the while that they were talking, Shin was watching. Earlier, he had followed Kumiko, eager to see her as always, but hesitant to let himself be seen. He had laughed quietly with her and had chuckled when she banged her head on the table. _That was so Yankumi._ He said to himself. _No, Kumiko. _He corrected himself, for the nth time since their reunion.

But he had frowned when he saw Shinohara approaching. _I thought they were just friends, why is he here, and carrying a bouquet of flowers? _ He was further enraged when he saw her laughing at what he said, accepting the flowers, and placing a hand on his arm. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but she kept on laughing and smiling up at him, at whatever thing he said. "I thought they were over!" he muttered angrily to himself.

Eventually he couldn't take it anymore. He began to walk in a stiff gait towards them, angry at what Shinohara was doing, and angry that Kumiko was entertaining him. At the middle of the way to Kumiko's desk, he began to check himself, and uttered reprimands to himself for going out of the comfort zone he was in earlier. He was about to turn at his heel, when Kumiko noticed him, nodded at him, and Shinohara turned his head.

_Darn. Too late. _He placed his hands in his pockets and shuffled over to them.

"Oh, look, isn't it the little lawbreaker," said Shinohara, still using the same annoying nickname he gave to Shin years ago. Shin clenched his teeth and his fists inside his pockets and said, "Hey, long time no see."

Kumiko was beaming, "Well, shouldn't you be happy to see each other again for five years!" Apparently she didn't know what had happened five years ago, when both of them had admitted to the rivalry between them—rivalry for Kumiko.

"Well, how are you, kid?" Shinohara said, to which Shin replied, "Fine."

"Couldn't we just have a little enthusiasm there?" Kumiko said, a bit confused of the cold treatment one gave for the other.

"I have to go," said Shin to no one in particular.

"I have to go, too, Kumiko."

"Both of you are leaving? I know Detective Shinohara has to work but since you don't have anything else to do, please stay, Sawada," said Kumiko with pleading eyes. Shin took one look and turned away, but he nodded.

"Anyway, 'bye," waved Shinohara.

"Why don't we take a walk, o brilliant former student?" Kumiko grinned.

"Sure."

------

"You have become more quiet, Sawada. I had hoped college would bring you out of your shell but you're all the more reserved," sighed Kumiko, as they were walking alongside a riverbank.

He was silent, fuming inside, thinking various thoughts and trying to look for an explanation at what just happened in Kumiko's office.

"See, now you are very silent. I cannot even guess what your thoughts are right now. You look so impassive. And I was supposed to be your teacher. I was hoping to see you again smiling and successful, but so far that hasn't happened. Well, the smiling part. For the successful part I do not know, for I didn't even know what college you went to, or your course, or your life there. I don't even know who you are right now; I can only see glimpses of the past. The only thing that's concrete is that you were once my student, but now you seem so far away, so matured…" Kumiko's voice trailed away.

_But how can I tell you Shin, that I am happy you are now matured but at the same time sad because you have grown away from me…and that I am very glad to see you, but that gladness have reached the point where it is no longer the happiness for a student, but something else which I can recognize but am finding it hard to admit? How can I tell you that?_

------

_How can I tell you, Kumiko that I have tried to get away from you, to no avail? All of those efforts have just resulted in me getting closer and closer to you, even if you are not there. I have become more mature, perhaps because those years of loneliness have made me stronger, and I could truly say, though it may sound cliché, that one of the sole reasons why I am still continuing living is you. But what I saw in your office made me feel very disturbed and jealous that I now don't know what I am going to do but ask you. But then you'll know my feelings for you. How can I tell you that?_

------

Each was very absorbed in their own thoughts while they were walking along the river side by side. They were getting closer to each other and as the space closed in between them, their fingers brushed against each other. Loneliness and instinct acted, and they grasped hands.

Eventually they noticed, and pulled them away, turning slightly pink. Both tried to relish the sensation of holding the others hand, but only mentally. Shin slipped his hands in his pockets, his usual, and Kumiko brushed hers together and ran them over her arms.

"Are you cold?" Shin asked.

"No, no, I'm fine." She answered. They fell into silence once again.

"What was Detective Shinohara doing in your office? Are you dating?" Shin blurted out. And perhaps to cover up for his blunder he added teasingly, "Oy, someone likes you even if you look like that? You must have bewitched him!"

Kumiko smiled inwardly and decided to play along with his game," Why, don't you think I'm attractive enough?" She said, stopping in front of him and proceeded to bat her eyes at him, smiling. Shin was taken aback by this un-Kumiko-like gesture. He thought, _That was so not Kumiko, but why can she pull it off naturally?_ He felt swept away by the dazzling smile she tried to hide unsuccessfully, and stared at her dumbfounded.

Kumiko's merry laugh rang out, and Shin faked another one to cover up his second blunder. _I really should get away from her if I don't want my feelings known._ They continued to walk.

_What was that supposed to be? Was I dreaming that he was staring at me? _Kumiko thought, lost in her own world once again that she did not hear what Shin was saying.

"Hey, Kumiko!" Shin waved two hands in front of her face.

"Oh, what?" She said, taken aback.

Shin chuckled,"You weren't listening. Never mind." He gave her a sideways smile.

Kumiko got curious, "What? What did you say?"

"No, I can't repeat it. You missed the chance, it took a lot of guts to say it though," replied Shin, looking down at his feet.

"What?!" demanded Kumiko, frustrated. Once again she stopped in front of him and blocked his way. Shin, who was still looking at his feet, continued to walk forward, and…CRASH!!

"Ow! You should have watched where you were going!" yelled Kumiko.

"You shouldn't have blocked my way!" Shin exclaimed. They were sprawled all over the riverside, sitting down and covered with a thin layer of dirt.

"You shouldn't have been looking down at your shoes and you should have answered my question!" Kumiko retorted back. Her eyebrows were drawn together, and with their heap-like state, Shin had the greatest urge to…laugh. Which he did.

In a flash Kumiko's anger dissolved. His deep laughter was contagious that she joined in. They stayed laughing for a few moments, until they just continued to sit there, admiring the river together.

Then Shin faced her, and said in a quiet voice, "I was asking earlier if I could walk you home."

Kumiko slowly turned to him, a bit surprised but half-smiling, "Sure."

And that was that.

A/N: Tee-hee-hee. Now I know where I got Tomoeda. From cardcaptor Sakura…hehe so sorry!!! There's the second chapter now! I hope you'll still read it even though it took me a long time to update…please read and review so that I'll get inspired to continue it! Next chapter I'll get the story going according to the summary! So please please please please REVIEW!!! Thank you oh so much!!:) singing Jesus Take the Wheel Ehehehe..


	3. News of an Engagement

A/n. Hi again you guys! I am back! After so long… anyway…so so thank you for the reviews grinning widely and also please check out my sakura one shot…Mock 'Marriage'…don't know if that's the best title I can come up with but well…just check if its that crappy or not..ehehehe…

Thank you ever so much for the reviews (again! I can't seem to stop thanking you guys..)! You have made me happy…!!! Especially to the ones who reviewed twice—winairain and blackjack7! Well, anyway, I was thinking. Was the story a bit slow-paced? Was it a bit redundant (the words, I mean)? I can see all of you nodding your heads in agreement! Or is it just my imagination? Just being crazy me! Anyway, I also wanted to ask kiona kina's panda, what do you mean by OOC? The nearest that I can think of is OC, which means obsessive-compulsive….does it mean overly obsessive compulsive…? Kidding! Kindly tell! And guys…what are the occupations of Shin's mother and father? I really have no idea so could I just make things up? And what is the name of their clan? What is their 'clan house' named? I am so so sorry! Please do help me! pleading and grinning sheepishly I'm so sorry! Anyway here is the third chapter. I will also try to perfect the act of putting down horizontal lines that can be seen in when I have the time to edit I will edit the first two!!!:) Anyway! Here it is! This is now the edited version!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Gokusen. But this fic I do own! So bear with me, esp. my wrong and made-up information!! I am sorry, but as said above, I do own this fic!

Age Matters?

Chapter 3

News of an Engagement

_It's nice to walk beside Shin. _Kumiko thought, as her steps fell into rhythm with his on the cement sidewalk. The faint sound of their sneakers hitting the sidewalk was the only sound that could be heard amidst the comfortable silence enveloping the both of them.

Shin's hands were stuffed into his pockets. He was intent on concentrating on the road in front of him, instead of looking at his former teacher's face, that was a bit flushed from walking. Occasionally, the wind blew away a stray lock of her hair that was too short to be included in her ponytails. The said lock was now trailing behind her as she walked, and as the wind stopped, rested in her face, a neat wisp just between her right eye and her hairline. Shin fought the urge to push it away from her face and kept his fists in his pockets. Kumiko tried to tuck it behind her ear, and Shin breathed a sigh of relief—a bit loudly.

Kumiko turned to him, confused, "Are you okay?"

Shin could not trust his voice right now, and nodded emphatically at her, before looking straight ahead once again.

"Hey Sawada," Kumiko punched him playfully on the arm, "you seem very jumpy today, eh? What happened?"

"Eh?" He croaked, stealing a glance at her. "Nah. You were just imagining it."

Kumiko chuckled. "The way you deny it makes me all the more suspicious."

"Hey! I told you I was okay! Anyway, we're now at your house," he said, pointing over at what was indeed her house.

"Oh, yeah, do you want to come in?"

"Um, I am not so sure. What would your grandfather say if he saw you with a guy?"

"Come on, you have been inside, and besides, you're my former student, you cannot possibly do anything."

_What does she mean? I cannot possibly do anything what?_ She was thinking of him as her former _student_ again. A little high school student. Shin clenched his fists again, trying not to be affected by what she said and by the carefree way she said it. _I am only a year younger than you, Kumiko. If you only knew…_ He looked away, breathing slowly. Then he realized that Kumiko was waiting for him. "Well?" She said, already at the sliding doorway. He couldn't do anything but follow her.

------

Shin looked around. "Nothing much has changed," he muttered to himself. They were at her room, and he noticed their class picture. Sure enough, there were also many other pictures of other classes, but theirs were at the center, with the best picture frame. "You still kept this?" he said to her.

Kumiko was standing at the doorway, sipping a cup of tea. She handed out one to him, "Yeah, sure why not? It is a fine reminder of my first and most rowdy class." She cast a sideways look at him.

He chuckled back. "Well, so sorry Kumiko," he said, emphasizing the word sorry. He brought the frame over to Kumiko, and they began to tease each other about getting older, and laughed and argued about who had changed over the five years.

------

Needless to say, Kumiko's grandfather was very surprised to see the both of them sprawled in the floor of Kumiko's room, clutching their stomachs and laughing their heads off, the picture frame and their slippers discarded, strewn all over the room. One was even kicked under the bedroom in a fit of frenzy mirth.

"Say, Kumiko, you have never told us you've got a boyfriend." Her grandfather's boom echoed throughout the room. Shin and Kumiko froze and looked up to see him frowning over at them. _Kumiko's got a boyfriend? Who?!_ Shin thought, before realization hit him.

Both flushed at the statement and Kumiko began to blab away continuously. "Oh! So sorry grandfather you just thought wrong Shin is not my boyfriend he is my former student don't you recognize him he has been here a few times five years ago oh well perhaps you won't because it has been five years ago oh well and then—" She was stopped by her grandfather's hand on her arm. Shin blushed at first, but when Kumiko began to prattle about, he started to frown, and looked down, his eyebrows meeting together, his lips pressed tightly in an attempt to control his brewing anger.

"Kumiko, will you follow me to the living room? I have something to tell you," her grandfather said. "You too, young man," he glanced at Shin's direction.

Kumiko began to wonder about her grandfather's serious tone. Even Shin managed to look up. Confused, she shot a look at him and gestured that they should follow her grandfather, after putting on their slippers, which took quite a while considering one was under the bed.

------

Outside the living room, Kumiko could make out two mature voices, one of a man's and the other a woman's. When they went inside, she could still only see their backs. So was she surprised when she heard the woman call out in a perplexed voice, "Shin! Son! What are you doing here?"

Mystified Kumiko turned to Shin, who had tried to shield his face by looking away. He coughed, "Umm, Mom?"

"He is the son you are talking about?" Kumiko's grandfather said, his eyebrows together. Now EVERYONE was confused!

"Ahem, Shin, kindly explain why you are here and what is your relation with Yamaguchi Kumiko." The man, whom Kumiko took to be Shin's father, spoke.

"Why? I should be the one asking you that, since you have no relation with her whatsoever!" retorted Shin.

"Shin!" his mother admonished, "Answer your father!"

"Yes, young man, you should not be rude to your father," added Kumiko's grandfather.

"Fine. I was Kumiko's student, one of her first." _If you cared about my life enough when I was in high school you could've known her_. He added in his mind. Even so, his heart wrenched when he heard himself say that he was Kumiko's student. _I cannot believe I am saying this!_ "And I am here because I walked her home to catch up with our lives since we haven't seen each other for five years," he finished brusquely. Kumiko stared at him in wonder. _Why is Shin talking rudely to someone who was supposed to be his father?_ Then she remembered that his father was a policeman who did not spend much time with their family, and who Shin did not like very much.

"You were her student? How did that came to be?" The mother asked. "Didn't you say that she was twenty-six years old?"

Kumiko and Shin were both shocked. Kumiko gawked at her, _how can this woman know my real age? What the school knows is that I am twenty-seven, not twenty-six!_

Shin looked at Kumiko. _She was twenty-six? All along we had, we had—_

"The same age. Ah, they have the same age." Shin's father said, stroking his chin. "Of course. In Shin's school records, he faked his age to be two years younger so that he would be accepted."

It was Shin's turn to be gaped at by Kumiko. _You mean all these years he was also twenty-six?!_ Shin just looked down.

"And in Kumiko's teaching records, her age was also made one year older so that she would be able to teach," Kumiko's grandfather added, realization dawning on him. "Ah! Now it all makes sense!"

"Oh yes so perfect! And the best thing is thar they have known each other for long!" Shin's mother clapped her hands enthusiastically. The three were all grinning at each other. Shin and Kumiko exchanged a look, before Kumiko exclaimed in a rather loud voice, "Wait a minute, WHAT IS GOING ON?"

Her grandfather and Shin's parents turned to look at the two of them.

"Well, um," His mother began, and added in one breath, "You two are going to get married!"

"WHAAAT?!?!"

Again, Shin had to admit that that hurt him a little. His "What?" had been somewhat bland as compared to Kumiko's blatant exclamation of the word.

His father coughed, "I think we should explain this to you one by one. Umm, Kuroda do you want to take Kumiko and explain it to her? I'll take care of Shin."

"Come on, Kumiko, this is going to take a bit long." Her grandfather led her away. Confused, her mind still swimming with thoughts of ages and marriages, she followed him.

------

Kumiko followed her grandfather where he led her to her room, and gestured for her to sit down on her bed. When she had plopped down, she gaped up at him, unable to speak anything, her tongue twisted because of some strange news.

Her grandfather eyed her carefully before he said, "Well…"

"Well, what, grandfather?" Kumiko began her tirade, "Well what you're going to marry me off? Why? For goodness sake I am just twenty-six years old why do I need to marry? And that has to be my student! I will be the laughing stock at the school! A teacher marrying her student! Who is the same age as her!? Who also faked his age as she did?! Ha! Now the whole Shiroken Gakuen will know! Now the whole town will know! And what will our fellow members say?—"

"Kumiko," her grandfather interrupted her, in a dangerous voice. "Before you say anything please do hear me out. As you obviously know, we are a clan. The powerful ties and connections we have will be further bound by your marriage to the chief of police's son."

"WHAT CHIEF OF POLICE'S SON?!"

Her grandfather held up a hand. She quieted down immediately. "Yes, Sawada is the chief of police in our town."

"But why does our clan need to strengthen ties?" Kumiko asked, indignant.

Her grandfather sighed, "Apparently the government has some imprudent idea that the clans were the one who were causing the havoc in Japan. So they sought out all of the clans here and aimed to destroy them. This is the only way I can ensure your protection when you take over the leadership, Kumiko."

"But I can fight—"

"Nonsense. If you fight back that will fuel the government's anger more, and it will seem as if we did something wrong."

"But—"

Kuroda reached out a hand to stroke his granddaughter's face, "Kumiko I am sorry for compromising your position but if you want to be safe, and if you also want this clan to continue, you have to agree to the marriage. And another advantage, I think, is that you know each other. It will be easier if you do end up living together. Yes, he was your student, but remember that he _was_, not is, and besides, both of you have the same age."

Kumiko's shoulder slumped down. _It is not as if I do not want to marry him. _She bit her lip and turned to him, "I have my own values, too, Grandfather. I just wanted to marry for love, not for the sake of an agreement."

He sighed once more, "I am sorry, Kumiko. Really, I am very sorry for forcing you into something you do not want, but I am asking you once again, as I have done many times before, to sacrifice those ideals. I am sorry but if you cannot marry him, I will have to look for another, which I am sure would not be the same, since he will feel more alien to you than young Shin is. You already know the guy and are comfortable with him. I have seen that a while ago." Her grandfather gave her a look.

Kumiko was so caught up in her thoughts that she could not even blush at her grandfather's look. _How am I going to tell Shin what I feel now? Sure, we will be married, but it would just be an agreement, nothing more. He will think that and I will still be caged in this loneliness, still not able to tell him. I mean, I do have him and we will be married, but only on paper, not in his heart._

"Kumiko," her grandfather's voice broke her out of her musings. "You have to decide right now, although you do not have much of a choice. Marry this guy or some other guy. I am sorry, Kumiko but I am doing this for you and the clan, though I do not approve of this method. There is no other way, and I hope you will consider."

She heaved a great sigh and looked up at her grandfather, her eyes empty. _For the clan. Responsibility._ "Okay. I will."

------

"What the HELL was that all about?!" Shin demanded, "Why do I have to get married now and why do you have to pick out my bride for me?"

"Shin, son, first listen please," his mother said.

"I will not!"

"Shin, listen," his father's voice cut the air. Shin's eyes immediately began to narrow. He disliked his father. Strongly, ever since the first warning that he would go away if his sister and mother would continue spending his 'hard-earned' money, his salary. It was as if he did not have a family, because his mother had to have a job to support him and his sister in high school and college. Thank goodness—he had now graduated, he would never have to see his face again. _But now he is here! He appears just to tell me that I have to get married? Does he know that Kumiko is an ojou? He, the so-called chief-of-police?_

"If you want to ask why I arranged a marriage for you, it is simple. I wanted to help this clan…" Shin listened with distaste at his gory story about how the government were chasing after clans. "So I want you to marry the girl so that there would be some sort of protection, seeing as her father-in-law is the chief of police." He finished and looked at him.

"What's in it for you?" Shin growled. He knew his father well, and that he never agreed to anything without ensuring benefits on his side.

"Oh, the ever perks of protection, riches and underground fame that a clan name does." His father waved his hand ever so casually.

"You're always selfish." Shin spat out.

"Not only me. You will also have these benefits. And besides, let us wish that the girl has some little position, so that you will share it with her, or perhaps take it from her, and you will be elevated in the clan."

Shin smirked, _he does not know that Kumiko is the heiress_. But immediately his face fell when he thought, _but I have not told Kumiko I like her. Now she will hate me because of the abuse my father does to her clan's name. Yes we will be married, but only on paper, not in the truth. But there is no other way for me to have her, seeing as she does not reciprocate my feelings. Will I allow her to hate me, but still have her, or will I let her slide forever from my grasp?_

"Well, Shin?" his father prompted him."

His bangs hiding his eyes he nodded, "Fine."

------

When Kumiko returned to the living room, Shin saw her, looking sad, and that eventually wrenched at his heart. _I knew it, she did not like me. Was my decision even correct?_ But he was shocked when her grandfather, who was smiling, said, "Our Kumiko has agreed." He turned to look at her. His father said, "Shin has also agreed."

Her eyes flew to where he was, shocked. Their eyes met, and instantly they both looked away. Sadly, Kumiko thought, _I will now not be able to tell him_.

_She will really hate me_. Shin thought. He sighed _Now what?_

A/n: GUYS GUYS GUYS please do review! All of them are read and appreciated!!! Every time I open my email after I post I look hopefully at my inbox… wishing for reviews!!!!!!! Nyehehehe…so please do review! My career as an authoress depends on it! Okay I might be exaggerating a bit but I really do want reviews! pouts I am inspired by it! I know that the people who write also experience this…WHOOOSH! That was almost half a page! Do not mind old blabbing me! Just READ AND REVIEW! MAGIC WORDS! hearts, rhiannonharmonica


	4. Confusions, Misunderstandings

a/n: I am back! After a hundred years! I know you will not bother with my explanations of absence so…thank you guyz for the reviews! Special thanks go to blackjack7! You know what you have done! I can never thank you so much for guiding a little blind sheep like me, in fanfiction! I have only seen the drama, not the manga (see how inexperienced I am? sighs ) so I guess I'll base mainly on the drama, but also make up my own info! (sorry) I guess if I do have some details here that are the same in the manga, it's just coincidence. And to all the people who asked, YES! I am a Filipina, and proud to be! pumps right fist into the air :) and I am sorry but that was the main points of my story—to make the both of them the same age!:) Oh, Revir sorry for using Ichi! Promise next time it is Uchi! I will not touch the "I" key ever! Haha kidding! And so sorry! And thank you to everone who had contributed info! It goes to show that you read AN, which are often ignored, haha. But anyway, I have made a promise to myself to make anotes short. So here goes!

Age Matters?

Chapter 4

Confusions, Misunderstandings, and Making Stories Up

The three adults were now chatting away in full swing about the marriage plans.

"They should be married soon!" Shin's father announced, "like, in a week!"

"In a week? That is too fast. We must first let the kids know each other more." Kuroda said.

"But they already know each other for years, he was her former student!" Shin's mother exclaimed.

"There. That's another problem. Is it possible for a teacher to marry her former student?" said Kuroda in a quiet voice.

Silence.

"I think it is possible," said Shin's father, "After all, that was a long time ago, and there is no law forbidding these things. Besides, they both have the same age. Who will be affected?"

"We will. There will be jaunts and jeers from our colleagues." Kumiko spoke up. Shin looked at her but she refused to look back at him.

"Yes, we understand that, Kumiko." Her grandfather said. "But as the young man's father has said, you both have the same age, so that will no longer be a problem."

"But in order for them to accept it they have to know our ages. And that means the school will know too. Will that mean that my high school records will be void and that Kumiko can no longer teach at Shirokin?" Shin said. Kumiko looked at him, eyes wide. _He is right? Will I still be able to teach? I love my kids at Shiroken…_

Shin saw the shock in Kumiko's face through the corner of his eyes and withheld the urge to look at her, as she refused to look at him moments ago.

"Hmm…" his father was saying. "I haven't thought about that."

"We would have to talk about it with the principal," Kuroda said. Kumiko flinched. The principal (who was once her beloved vice principal) would be dancing all over her humiliation.

"I don't think so," Shin's mother's voice was heard, "I don't know what rumors will come out once people will get wind of this story. I think we should just let them stay abroad for a little while after the wedding to let the excitement tune down and for the people to look for someone else to gossip."

"That's okay, I guess. But it is still not a foolproof solution." Kuroda said. "For now let us just plan the wedding and hope that the principal will allow Kumiko to teach and that the people have forgotten that Shin was Kumiko's student once." Then he added under his breath, "Although they certainly do not act as if they were teacher-and-student." Kumiko was flabbergasted. She was the only one who heard his comment. _Could grandfather have concluded that I like Shin just because of our frolicking an hour ago?_

"Anyway, that was good business—ahem plans, yes, plans." Shin's father said as they stood up. Shin glared at him. "I guess we will be going now. Shin, are you coming?"

Shin was torn between staying and asking Kumiko if she did hate him, but he was also afraid that she might say yes. He stared at her, who was looking down at her hands, her eyes empty. _Kumiko, I am so sorry that my selfishness has taken over me. I don't know if I want you caged beside me or free but away from me. I do not know…_He looked away. And so he just opted to leave with his parents.

Kumiko refused to look up at him and return the looks he shot her. Yes, all throughout the conversation he was shooting glances at her that she refused to acknowledge. She forced her head to look down, but it was only at that one moment of weakness that her guard went down when she remembered her students…_Selfish, selfish me! I am only thinking about my clan's happiness and I! Poor shin! He is still young, he has a lot to do than get tied up to someone as old as me…_Then she shook her head._ No, we have the same age. I forgot about that…But still…even if we do have the same age, how am I going to tell him I like him? He will think that the only reason that I will confess is for the fulfillment of a typical woman's fantasy, and that I am just pretending to love him so that he will love me back and have a blissful marriage. NO! I am not a typical woman! For goodness' sake I am an heiress to a clan!_

"What was it, Kumiko?" her grandfather said.

_Shoot._

"W-What grandfather?" She answered.

"Yes, Kumiko, you are the heiress to our clan, even if they do not know it. Sure, the father may seem power-hungry but I have faith in the boy, that he will protect you, even if you are more skilled in fighting than him." He added the last phrase when he saw that she was about to open her mouth. Kuroda smiled and ruffled her hair. "I trust that the young man knows you're the heiress, right?"

Kumiko nodded.

"Was he one of your first students?"

Again she nodded.

"This is not his first visit here, am I right?"

Kumiko nodded vigorously. _Her grandfather was starting to remember._

"Do you like him?"

Kumiko nodded again, before catching herself and shook her head emphatically. Kuroda laughed. "Don't deny it, dear Kumiko. I know, it is reflected in the way you look, and your restraints to look at him."

Kumiko looked up at him, her eyes wide.

"Yes, but don't worry. The marriage will not do anything to your feelings. Nor to his, either." Her grandfather mused. "Anyway, I have business to tend to. See you, dear granddaughter." He ruffled her hair and left the room.

_What was that "nor to his, either" all about?_ Kumiko wondered.

------

The next day they were having tea in the Sawada residence, which was his mother's attempt to let the both of them know each other more, and to get used to the fact that they were each other's partners-to-be. Really, there was no backing out anymore.

At school before, the once perky Kumiko always spaced out. This caused her students to worry about her, especially the five 'transfer students'. But only one of the five knew the reason.

Shin still attended her class, not only because the others would be puzzled that he wasn't following his own plan, but also because he was worried about Kumiko—she might break down any moment. _No. That thought was foolish. Kumiko is one of the strongest women I know. She will not need my support. But I guess I still have to attend so as not to attract attention from the other four, and I guess from her as well. I will just treat the engagement as a nothing so that she will not worry. I hope that this will work..._he thought.

------

"Well, now, I guess I shall leave the two of you to talk. I will be in the den, arranging the details of the wedding." His mother said, and left.

Silence enveloped the both of them, and Kumiko attempted small talk, "I haven't been to your house before." She said, not quite looking at him and not quite keen at calling him by the first name.

"It's not my house. It has never been my house." He answered coldly. Kumiko looked up, her eyes wide. Shin sighed. "This is my father's house," contempt was etched in his face as he said the word father, "not mine, since I was never treated, and will never want, to be his son."

"Shin, you should not treat your father like that—"

"Why not? He is a freaking bastard!" Shin stood up and shouted.

"Shin!"

He sighed and sat down again. "I am sorry." He ran a hand through his hair and slumped down on his chair. "Anyway, have you thought about what to say to the school?" He asked her.

Her face fell, "I really do not know what to say to them, so that I will not lose my job and your records would still be in effect. It seems tahat the only way left is to make up a story."

"I guess we could. But what story?" he asked.

"I don't know. Perhaps that we had fallen in love fiercely a long time ago until now," with that Kumiko squirmed in her seat. _How close to the truth was that?_ "And because of that we do not care about the age difference," she continued, "It may be nonsense, but that way they do not know that we have changed our ages. Besides, that age thing is just peer pressure, right? There isn't really any legal or religious law prohibiting it, right?"

She looked tired. Shin could not do anything but respond, "Okay, I guess. I mean, it's worth a shot. I hope that they would fall for it, and that we would still have our jobs and records."

"But we would be talked about."

"It's as what you had said earlier: it is just peer pressure. Let us just appear that we really do not care about what they thought."

Kumiko nodded. Somehow, his use of the word 'us' perturbed her. He said it in such a carefree and casual manner that…She shook the thought out of her head.

"What's wrong with the story?" Shin asked when he saw her shaking her head.

"Oh, its nothing. Shall we polish up the details?" She told him.

"What details?"

"Oh, first meeting, first date, gifts, celebrations, everything." She said casually.

"That's a lot!"

Kumiko smiled a tired smile.

------

Later in the afternoon they had made up and memorized everything, and agreed that they would go to the principal to tell him of what they wanted, and also for Kumiko to apply for a leave of absence for the wedding.

Exhausted, they slumped down on the floor where they were discussing. They were talking the whole time, but still there was the feeling of aloofness between them that had only been there ever since the announcement of the engagement agreement.

"I have never dreamed that we would end up having the same age, much less marry." Kumiko voiced out. _That is not quite true, since most of my dreams revolve around you and me being happy._

Shin shrugged and stifled a sigh. "Me too." _Not. I have imagined many scenes such as what is going to happen to us in a few weeks, I guess, whenever this fated wedding will be._

That was that.

------

Kumiko emerged from the principal's office in a rather dazed manner. The principal had said that their marriage would not affect her job, since Sawada was her student a long time ago, not now. Student-teacher relationships were only prohibited if they were the student and teacher of each other, in the present. That had come from the principal, who had always been very disagreeable with Kumiko! She could not help but wonder what had happened to him. And he had agreed, without any comment, to her leave of absence!

Shin was with her, and he too could not believe that everything was just that fast. He narrowed his eyes and could not help thinking that something or someone sinister was behind this. Kumiko was still in a dazed manner and Shin put an arm around her shoulder absent mindedly so as to support her. It seemed that Kumiko was too deep in thought about their triumph to notice him.

All in all, they looked quite the thinking couple—Kumiko with a shine in her eyes and clasping her hands in front of her and Shin with his left arm around her, and his right hand stuffed in his pocket.

------

"They are really getting married?"

"Yes! I heard the principal talking!"

------

"Shiroken Gakuen, the principal speaking." The principal of Shiroken, who was once its vice principal five years ago, answered the phone. "Oh, General! Hello! How are you?"

"Yes, I am fine myself…yes, they went here earlier…yes, I did everything that you said…without a complaint!"

"Oh, it shall be waiting for me? Well, thank you very much, General!...Goodbye!"

------

In a room in one of the most powerful offices in the country sat a man who was just talking on the phone earlier. He set down the receiver with a self-satisfied smirk.

He was the one who called Shiroken Gakuen's principal. The one they called the General.

------

"Yes, hello? This is Shin."

"SHIN! WHAT IS THIS I HEAR?"

"Kuma? What do you mean?" Shin was holding the phone away from his ear, but he could still hear the guy's shouting.

"SHIN SAWADA ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO MARRY YANKUMI?!?!?!"

An: ahehehe. And that is it guys! Sorry for the short chapter but…READ AND REVIEW!!!!


	5. Memoirs of Valentine's Days

Author's Notes: Well, I am sorry, but! Well, anyway, thanks for the reviewers! Thank you very much for keeping up with my nonsense-ness!!! I just had one concern: why didn't I receive any review alerts? Back then I thought no one had even bothered with the fourth chapter…well, anyway! I think those alerts will find their way to my inbox somehow. And I am so sorry for my momentary hiatus. What, it has been perhaps a month and a half? Oh my gosh, I know you guys are going to kill me, if not that I am already dead by now. Hehe. Anyway! I will really try hard to inject humor, but since I am not quite that writer (I did not put humor in the genre, if you noticed), I am not so sure if I can fulfill your wishes cringes . Oh, and um, italics are thoughts. Do they appear? Well, enough of this incessant blabbing. On with it! Fighting, Rhia! 

Age Matters?

Chapter 5

Memoirs of Valentine's Days

"Umm…well, umm…" Shin began to talk into the phone, his voice faltering, and his face blanched. Kumiko had just appeared on the living room, where he took the call from Kuma. She was carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses—a celebration for their supposed victory with the principal. He looked over at her in an expression that clearly screamed, "Help!"

"What's wrong?" said Kumiko. Wordlessly, Shin pointed to the phone and pressed the loudspeaker button in time for a voice to be heard, booming the words: "ANSWER ME, ALREADY! WHAT ARE THESE RUMORS THAT YOU AND YANKUMI ARE GOING TO GET MARRIED?!"

Kumiko turned pale and snatched the phone from Shin, saying in an overly bright voice, "Oh, hey there Kuma!"

"Yankumi! Its you! What is going on? Is it true that you and Shin are going to get—"

"Married, yes, Kuma," Kumiko answered in smooth voice, "Isn't it exciting? It is going to be a happy wedding and of course all of you are going to be invited! You'll all be the best men, I think, if we can have four best men, and—" Her chatter was cut short.

Shin, who was rolling his eyes at his fiancée's futile efforts to keep Kuma from talking, was surprised because she suddenly stopped talking. "What?"

"I don't know—he turned off his phone." Kumiko said, confused, "Is he angry?"

"Well, I guess so, because we went off and got engaged and we didn't even tell them a thing."

If it was any possible, Kumiko turned paler, "Oh no! Now what do we do?"

"I don't know—I suggest we should leave Kuma at that, and just call the others and tell them the news." He picked up the phone and began to call Uchi.

Kumiko listened to their conversation, and watched as Shin turned stiff up to the point that he was just nodding and muttering inaudible sounds of agreement.

"Well?" She said when he had hung up.

"The four of them are on their way here." Was all that he said, before taking the bottle of wine from the coffee table and taking a large swig, directly form the bottle.

Kumiko was now positively white.

------

"Really! We should start polishing our answers and situations! Everything!" Kumiko started to prance around the room hysterically. They had just finished half of the bottle of wine, and were trying hard not to think of the impending doom awaiting them. "Isn't it ironic? We practiced hard for a hassle-free talk with the principal and now, we have to explain to our supposed to be friends. And I have an inkling that this will be more difficult, and we will get a thrashing greater than what we expected from the principal." Shin downed another glass of wine.

"Stop it, already, Shin! We are supposed to be practicing our answers again and you cannot do that while you are half-drunk!"

"Fine, fine—now when did you say we met again?"

Kumiko gave an exasperated sigh just as a knock was heard.

"C-C-Come in!" She trilled.

And four eyes that were narrowed so much they were almost slits stormed into the living room of the clan house.

"H-Hey guys!" Kumiko's high-pitched voice would not go away. Kuma, Uchi, Minami and Noda took their seats and passed the bottle of wine between them and taking careful guzzles wordlessly before fixing their steely gazes on the couple who were seated across them, specifically on Shin Sawada. Both gulped.

"Well?"

------

"Yes, that's right! We met again at a park in Shin's school on Valentine's Day four years ago! And then we always celebrated Valentine's Day after that—" Kumiko rushed, until the point where Minami interrupted her. "Wait." He said, "But the five of us always celebrated Valentine's Day since none of us had any decent dates!" He paused, and added with a mischievous but far-away smile, "I remember it clearly; we would spend the night getting drunk at a bar with scantily clad women squished between us." At that his eyes sparkled.

So did the eyes of the others.

That is, except for Kumiko's, which were rapidly turning into slits. As she faced her fiancé with a rather murderous look on her face, she repeated, "Scantily clad women squished between all of you, eh?" She raised her fists and—

Shin popped back into earth because of a face-shattering punch.

"OUCH!!! What was that for?"

"WHAT SCANTILY CLAD WOMEN SQUISHED BETWEEN YOU?!"

"Eh? Hehe, yeah, well, about that—"

Noda cleared his throat. "Before the two of you fight, please do answer our inquiries." He sent a piercing look towards Shin. "Well, did you double yourself every Valentine's Day, then? How is it that you were able to meet Yankumi and us at the same times?"

At the realization of their flaw Shin straightened up from cowering and answered diplomatically, "Well, you are wrong about that. I did not have any double every Valentine's Day. I was only with you guys during the evenings, but I spent the day with Kumiko."

"Oh, okay…" The four of them said when they remembered.

Shin tried to suppress a sigh but he could not. Then his four friends laughed.

"What?"

"Now that you have answered our inquiries you have to answer another person's questions. A very angry another person." Uchi said impishly.

"What? Wha—Who—?" Shin broke off when he saw that Kumiko, who was sitting beside him, was raging in fury, her eyes and lips almost nonexistent, her fists clenched, prepared to attack.

Shin began to recoil…

------

"Do you need bandages, Shin?" Kuma joked.

"Shut it! You're not making me feel any better." He answered back, massaging his red cheek. Kumiko had slapped him—hard. Then she stormed out of the room, muttering something about men and "forgetting to tell me." A few seconds of silence followed her disappearance before horrific laughter had exploded in the room, courtesy of Kuma, Uchiyama, Minami and Noda.

"How about a cold pack for your head?" Uchi added.

"Really, shut it, before I decide to get revenge and take it out on you guys." He spat.

"Well, aren't we touchy," Minami said, "but you do have to apologize, you know."

"Yeah, right. Especially you, since you're the one who got me into this mess in the first place." Shin glared at him, "Why did you even have to mention it to her?"

"Hey, hey, stop it guys! Shin you can't blame us just because you were being unfaithful. Hell, if it was any girl, I am sure she would have done the same thing that Yankumi did. Imagine that, every Valentine's Day the guy that she loves would make silly excuses that he could not spend the night with her, then run off for drinks and other women? Gosh, I would like to see her pummel the guy." Noda said.

"Well, you have already seen one get pummeled. And by the way, this is different since Kumiko is stronger than any girl I know, so it hurts about ten times more," Shin said annoyed, and ignored the word Noda used, love. He shook his head, _If only they knew._

Again, the four laughed.

"An angry, jealous girlfriend is hard to cope up with, but try an angry, jealous and strong fiancée. Ha! Condolences to you, Shin. I can already envision your burial." Uchi quipped.

"Arrghh. Shut it!" He stood up and left.

"Good luck!"

"Break a leg!"

"He means it literally!"

The room roared with laughter.

------

He found her standing beside the kitchen window, sipping a glass of water. She had pulled off her barrettes and had let her hair flow freely in time with the soft gusts of wind from outside. She was staring at something intently, but as he stepped in closer he saw that she wasn't staring, she was pondering on something. Her eyes were glazed over and the water in the glass she held in her hand was still full. He watched her, amazed by the serenity he saw outside, yet still sensing there was something troubling her inside. It was then that he saw a tear crawling down her left cheek slowly from her left eye. He cleared his throat and she jumped, hastily wiping the stray tear away before facing him, a fake cheery smile on her face.

"Oh, Shin, hi!" Her voice was trembling. She took a deep breath before plowing on, "I hope that I wasn't very cruel there, I just decided that I should go on with the play of being the jealous fiancée. Heh. I am sorry about the punch that was the initial reaction, I guess. I mean who wouldn't be angry? And the slap, well I just decided to be more womanly, hee. And I flew out of the room at the right timing! So, what do you think of the show I put on, eh? Quite convincing, no? But you know, I am really sorry for whatever I may have had inflicted on you. Does it hurt anywhere? I'm really sorry for doing that, really, I am. After all, I really did not have any right to know what you did every Valentine's Day the past four years, much less react on it. I am just your fake fiancée right?"

"Anyway, I was just in here, working myself up to go back there, the perfect picture of happy-but-faking-it-because-I'm-still-angry fiancée. Well, I was just trying to pull out some tears, and look, they came out! Oh, and do you want me to come in there with an ointment and cotton, looking for you in the room? It would make the show seem more believable!" The laugh that followed was empty.

How Shin ached to pull her into his arms. And he did just that—he reached out for her hand and pulled her body towards his, enveloping his arms around her. He whispered into her hair, "I'm sorry," then propped his face atop her head.

Kumiko was shocked by the sudden motion but calmed down when she heard him apologize. She closed her eyes and faced his chest and let the tears flow freely.

------

_It's a good thing she has calmed down now_, Shin thought with an inward sigh. True, Kumiko had calmed down and they were now sitting and talking on the chairs in the kitchen table, but the conversation was not about the past Valentine's Days. It was obvious that she never wanted to hear of it again.

_But I want it to be over, _Shin thought. _I have to explain myself, Kumiko. I wasn't being unfaithful, hell, we weren't even together then, if you would call our situation now together. I was just, just trying to forget you…but now we see that I can't. More than ever. But do you want to hear that? No, I don't think so._

Then he cleared his throat and Kumiko stopped her mindless chatter about what punches were the most efficient and looked at him, who was sitting across her.

"Um, about the Valentine's Days…" He started, and his throat constricted when he saw Kumiko's lips began to thin. "Well, what I'm saying was we were just having a happy time, the boys that we are, you know. And that was just once every year—do you expect us to stay home watching cheesy movies and cry our hearts out because it was Valentine's Day and we were dateless? It was just our way of forgetting things…" _and my way of forgetting you, even for just a few hours_, he added in his mind. He did not know what prompted him to do so, perhaps instinct, but he reached out for the hand of the woman who was looking away from him.

"And besides, I did not get drunk, even once—who would have brought us home if I were anything but sober? But then I regret not saying it to you, really, everything just slipped out of my mind, I guess. I am really, really sorry." He finished. She was still looking out the window, and he could not see enough of her eyes to deduce her reaction. He gave her hand a tug and said, "Please look at me." Kumiko did, and he saw that her eyes were shining. _From unshed tears? But why would she cry?_

Kumiko swallowed and said, projecting a smile, "Yeah! Oh my, hormones, I'm so sorry!" She said as a tear began its descent down her cheeks that ached so much from smiling fake-ly for an hour now. She hurriedly wiped it down with the tablecloth upon seeing Shin's concerned face and announced, "I am really so sorry, Shin, but my period must be coming!"

Witnessing the shock etched in Shin's features she clapped a hand to her mouth, "I am really sorry, you shouldn't have heard that! Stupid women hormones." She stood up when a new wave of tears threatened to break through her eyes. "Oh well," she said, "to hell with hormones." Then she sat down and began to bawl into the tablecloth, leaving a bewildered Shin trying to make out what was the sense of everything, and whether his apology was accepted or not.

Kumiko raised her head from the tablecloth and said in between sobs, "Oh, and Shin,(hiccup) your apology (gasp) is accepted. You didn't (gasp) do anything wrong at all." Then she went back to satisfying the tablecloth again.

Shin could only gape.

------

At the living room…

"Do you think Shin's apologizing to Yankumi now?" Kuma had said.

"I hope," Noda answered.

"You know what, they are taking so long."

"Nah. Shin's probably getting battered now."

"Hahaha!" Minami laughed, "they should change the phrase battered wife to battered husband just for Shin! Poor him."

"Hey, don't you think Shin can't stand for himself?" Uchi interjected.

"Yeah he could, but would he under Yankumi? After all, she is his fiancée, you know, he wouldn't hurt her." Kuma drawled.

"Hey, I am starting to wonder how they got engaged. Shin is so quiet and, I don't know, he never told us anything." Noda said.

"Yeah, but as you said, he is quiet and secretive so it's no surprise that we don't know anything. Besides, I think he has been eyeing our teacher ever since high school." Minami said.

Uchi said his thoughts aloud, "That's right. This engagement just confirmed my thoughts. What's more, during our Valentine's Day outings he was the only one who did not take advantage of the girls' advances—he even shooed them away. Still remaining chaste at twenty-four years old, it made me wonder why. All through college and work the four of us would shift from girlfriend to girlfriend"

"But not blessed enough to have a date every Valentine's." Noda interrupted with a smile.

"Yeah, that's right. Anyway, even if many girls were flocking around him, Shin would not even have a single one, yet during our drinking bouts he was always the person to remain sober. I began to think that there was some stable relationship with a girl that caused him to be sane, that he just did not tell us anything, if they were together or if he was just pining away in unrequited love."

"And it turned out to be the former."

"Yes. He was just keeping us company then, I guess."

"But what I don't get," Kuma said, clenching his fist, "is that he didn't let us know before. I mean, we could have accepted it then, too. Why did he have to wait until they were engaged? It's as if we would do anything to separate them from each other. And we wouldn't even have known if we hadn't heard those rumors. It's as if the both of them don't trust us, and I don't even know if they trusted us in the beginning."

Silence.

"Um, don't you think they're taking a little too long?" Minami.

"You know what I am thinking? That after the apology and the beating, Yankumi will turn all soft on him, after all they're engaged, and they will start making out."

"Noda!" Uchi admonished.

"Hey, you can't help it, it might be true." But all of them had now stood up and began to stride towards the kitchen.

------

And thus they witnessed the scene—Kumiko weeping her heart out facing the kitchen tablecloth and Shin, looking on with his mouth open, unable to speak and do anything.

"Hey, what's going on? Shin did you make Yankumi cry?" Kuma said, threats on the edge of his voice.

Shin, whose mouth was still hanging open, shook his head slowly. When she heard their voices Kumiko raised her head, and they saw that her face was blemished with streaks of dried and wet tears mixed together. "Oh, hey boys. (Gasp) My silly hormones, don't mind me." She said, and went back to the tablecloth.

"Would you leave? The five of you?" She said into the tablecloth. When she didn't get any answer she said, her voice on the edge of screaming, "Leave! Please leave me and my hormones (gasp)!"

That they did, since they did not want a hysterical Yankumi with her fists flying. Come to think of it, any hysterical girl with her fists flying would also be scary.

------

"Hello? Oh, yes, General! Why hello there!...Ah, you wish to employ our services!...Oh really? What a surprise, that little sulking boy? Oh wow!...Well, but of course! When and where is it?...Oh? You wish us to hide?! But we cannot deliver the same quality if we are like chimpanzees hidden in bushes! This is unheard of—……

"Well, yes of course, General, yes, we will comply…. Yes, we will hide, if that is what you wish…Yes sir. I am really very sorry for shouting at you earlier sir…yes, thank you very much. Rest assured that the pictures will still be of the highest quality. Goodbye."

The photographer put down the phone and sighed, before picking it up again and calling his assistant. He said in a tired voice, "Machi, we have a big but peculiar order. Listen very carefully, prepare the…"

------

The man they call the General put down the phone and smirked to himself. No one can stand in his way.

------

A/N: THIS PARTICULAR CHAPTER SCREAMS OOCNESS! I know! Blame it on me! I am so sorry! Anyway! Ahem, do you guys have any idea who general is? I think you do, since it is pretty obvious, but still, take a guess!!! This is to see if you do read authors notes… ehehehehe…that's all I can say, and READ AND REVIEW!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!


	6. Moving On

Age Matters?

Chapter 6

Moving On

"And what was that about, Shin? Did you make her cry?" Kuma went, brandishing a fist menacingly.

"W-what? I did not do anything!" Shin winced, "I was apologizing to her and she just cried." He bit his lip, remembering what Kumiko had said about pretending earlier. _She didn't seem like she was pretending. It was as if she was holding it in, and it was all a guise. _Kuma lowered the fist once he saw that Shin looked as troubled as everyone was, perhaps even more.

"Hey, Shin, I just remembered something—Yankumi's our teacher and is supposed to be older than us, how are you going to explain it to the school?" Minami asked.

"The school has already approved. I don't know why but it was easy. I can't help feeling that there's something else, but I don't know."

"Hey man, you shouldn't worry about those things anyway. You should worry about your impending wedding." Uchiyama grinned, saying the word wedding as if it was "doom."

Everyone snickered.

"Yeah, yeah, guys. Now would you take Kumiko's advice and leave? I am getting quite tired with all of your inquiries and I have a fiancée being nicely acquainted with the kitchen tablecloth to comfort. I am really getting a big headache, an even bigger one comparing to the ones I have had at work, and I would truly appreciate it if you would" he paused, seeing that he was already mumbling to a closed door, "leave."

"Oh well, then, even if all of you haven't said goodbye, I suppose…"

"Ha! Just joking, Shin!" came Kuma's voice from the other side of the door.

"Bye!" Uchiyama called out.

"And go get her!" That was Noda, and the snorts that followed were from all of them.

Shin shook his head and called out, "One day, you guys, one day!" Then he proceeded to the kitchen, very cautiously, to see that Kumiko was still seated at the table, but her face was no longer pasted to the tablecloth. Instead, she was staring into space once again, both of her hands cupping her face, her eyes and nose slightly red. She was breathing through an inaudible slit in her mouth and when she exhaled a wisp of her hair flew up, down, up, down. It was an adorable sight, really.

Shin cleared his throat, and deciding that it was now safe, went to sit beside her. She faced him, and he tucked the stray hair from her face. They were both studying each other intently, staring without caring if the other knew. As silence ensued, Shin began to realize their positions. He coughed and looked away, as a blush began to settle on his face. Kumiko snapped back to reality and looked away, too, her face with a hint of a smile.

Shin cleared his throat once again and said, "Um, are you okay now?"

Kumiko poked his arm and he turned to look at her. She smiled at him and nodded. He coughed and looked away again. "Um, Kumiko I am really sorry about that Valentine's Day issue…"

The voice that cut his was soft, "Really, you don't have anything to worry about. As I have said earlier, your apology was accepted."

"Okay." There was a pregnant pause before he continued, "But, tell me, why were you crying?"

Kumiko chuckled, "I told you, it was all because of my hormones. Though there's another reason, and I won't tell you." She smiled enigmatically. _The reason being that I did not want you to know I was terribly jealous._

"Huh?" He replied. Once again she smiled and changed the subject, "Shin, are we sure about our decision? I mean, to marry?"

"Um…how about you? Well, do you want to back out? It is fine with me, really. Whatever you want, I can go about it. It all depends on you—" He was cut off by the touch of her fingertips on his arm.

"Its okay with me, I guess. We can pull it off, if this is what grandfather wants. As an heir to the clan…" She smiled sadly.

_As an heir to the clan. That's all there is, the clan. _Shin sighed.

------

The garden wedding was already finished two days ago and Kumiko could not believe it went so fast. They had decided that Shin would be staying at the clan house, so they had started to move his things. _Of course Grandfather would put him in my room. Of course._ Kumiko thought blandly. Then she remembered her wedding night.

flashback

"Yeah you go Shin! Bring pride to the race of men!" One of his friends had called out. Shin had rolled his eyes. Kumiko wanted to laugh, but blushed instead. He was carrying her into the car's backseat, which would bring them to their hotel room, their "wedding night," their "honeymoon."

When they had reached their hotel room he proceeded to carry her through the threshold, even if no one was watching. Kumiko was laughing and gently hitting at him so that he would let her go. He did not, until he reached the bed and plopped her down on it He was standing and looking at her, who was still clad in her white wedding dress—a flowing gown with a long train and very thin spaghetti straps and embroideries here and there. He began to loosen his bowtie, all the while still staring at her.

Immediately Kumiko began to see the awkwardness and suggestiveness of the situation and started to get up. She announced, "I am going to the bathroom to change!" As she walked to it, she heard him emit a faint sigh, which prompted her to speed up, and lock the door to the bathroom.

The bathroom was huge, and Kumiko was grateful that she didn't have to worry that her dress would get wet. As she slipped into the bathtub, she attempted to calm her heart, which had speeded up once they had entered the hotel room, alone. Well, she couldn't go and sleep in another room—that would be too suspicious. She sighed, there was nothing else to do—no matter how nervous she was, she had to sleep with him in the same room, or perhaps bed, tonight. Occupied with these thoughts she didn't notice the small soap at the bottom of the bathtub and BLAM! She slipped, landing on her back, her head hitting a corner of the bathtub and her knee on another side.

"OWWW!!!"

"Kumiko, are you hurt?" Shin had rushed to the bathroom door once he heard the fall. He banged on the door and was attempting to open it, twisting the doorknob when Kumiko realized what he was doing, and that she was stark naked.

"Kumiko?"

"I am fine! Really, I am okay! Its okay!"

"Really?"

"Yes, yes, really!"

"Okay," his voice was doubtful but he had stopped twisting the doorknob. Kumiko let out the breath she had been holding.

When she had finished with her bath and had dressed, she found him on the living room, watching…soap operas? No, wait. He didn't look like he was watching it at all.

"What are you watching?" She asked.

He jumped when he heard her voice. "Oh, nothing, I don't know…Are you okay?"

She was startled, when she realized that he had been waiting for her to come out, to see if she was really okay. "Yeah, really I am."

He stood up and checked her over, for scrapes, or wounds, perhaps, and she gave an exasperated sigh. "Really, Shin. I. Am. Okay."

"Okay, okay. I was just worried. That sounded like a pretty nasty fall." He looked offended.

She sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just that I am not used to being fussed over. I mean, I was built up for injuries."

Shin remembered. "Okay, then." Then a slow smirk spread on his features as he looked at her, "Clumsiness got the better of the clan heiress?"

"W-What?!" Kumiko paid no heed to the fact that she was dressed only in her bathrobe as she began to tackle Shin. He was surprised, and could not react, landing sprawled face down on the floor, with her sitting on his back.

"Ha! Now that is what you get for insulting the clan heiress!" And Kumiko laughed and laughed.

Shin grunted from his position on the floor and using one hand, tickled her. This threw her off balance and she shrieked.

"SHIN!...stop! haha…enough!...hahaha…aah!"

Somehow their positions ended up like this: Kumiko was on top of Shin holding both of his hands between them, her still-damp hair dangling into his face. Gently, Shin extricated his right hand from hers and fingered her hair, which she still hadn't combed.

In the softest voice she never heard from him he said, "You know, this is the first time I have seen you really wear your hair down, and I think it is beautiful."

Kumiko was entranced by the voice and the eyes that had held her captive. There was something about those eyes, a look that was undistinguishable to her, but one that she had seen so many times from those eyes that it seemed so familiar.

Then the spell broke when the both of them realized their position on the floor. Quickly, Kumiko stood up and sat herself on the suite room's couch, grabbing the remote control and flipping channels, trying to ignore her fluttering heart. Shin was breathing a bit harder than before, wondering _What the hell happened? _He sat himself on the other end of the couch and watched her flipping the channels.

"Were you really watching soap operas?" Kumiko said, giving him a sideways smile.

"What soap operas?"_ Oops. I was so worried earlier that watching TV then was just a guise for me. I should have paid more attention._ Shin mentally slapped his head. _Oh well. _

Kumiko shook her head and chuckled.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Nothing." Though she couldn't hide her mischievous smile.

Moments later…

"This is boring." Kumiko commented. She had been flipping channels for the last twenty or so minutes. She snuck a look at her companion and chuckled again. Somehow, Shin had slid down from his side of the couch. He was now sitting on the floor, using the couch as a backrest. He was asleep.

"Well, I guess someone here is really tired! I might as well take advantage of having the full couch for a nap." Saying this, Kumiko stretched and lay down on the couch.

------

Afternoon came and they were still asleep at their suite's living room. It was then that the others began to wonder…

"Why are they taking so long to come down? They did not even have lunch and breakfast!" Kuma was slipping into the role of a concerned friend.

"Nah. Just leave them alone, who knows what they're doing there?" Minami, carefree as ever, snickered.

This caused a tittering among the hotel's snack bar, which was composed of the four of them, Kuma, Minami, Uchiyama and Noda, enjoying a mid-afternoon snack. It was then that a flustered and bickering Kumiko and Shin appeared.

"Well, why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because I was also asleep, duh!"

"Don't you have a body clock or something?"

"Don't YOU have it?"

"Well I would but this is not an ordinary day! For heaven's sake I slept on a couch!"

"The bed was big why wouldn't you sleep on it!"

"I was just napping!"

"Yeah, until the wee hours of noon."

"AHEM!" Both heads looked up.

"Oh hi! The four of you!" Kumiko greeted, and reddened because they caught the two of them in such a silly argument.

"Hey guys," Shin said, and sat down, helping himself to food in the process.

"Where were you the whole morning? At it like bunnies all night?" Noda winked.

Shin nearly choked on a half-eaten hamburger. Kumiko gave him a glass of iced tea and answered in a flat tone, "We were sleeping."

"Yeah, the whole MORNING." Minami nodded, hiding a smile with a bite of his sandwich.

"And the whole NIGHT." Added Shin with a glare, who was recovering by now, ignoring the flustered Kumiko.

end of flashback

"It wasn't that bad." Kumiko murmured to herself. Then she remembered their big error. It was during the signing of the marriage certificate…

flashback

Shin had just finished signing it and handed the pen to Kumiko. She was about to sign when Uchiyama had looked at the paper over her shoulder and said, "Hey, there's something wrong about that whatsit paper—they got both of your ages wrong."

Kumiko's eyes widened and she hastily signed the certificate and covered the ages with her hand.

"It states that the both of you are twenty-six while it is not true. You should be twenty-seven, Yankumi, and Shin should be twenty-four."

The officiating minister had given her a questioning look and quickly Shin rushed forward to straighten thing up. "No, Uchi, the marriage certificate is true." He shot a look at his friend/one of the best men before nodding to the minister.

The ceremony continued, but all the while Uchi had a pondering look on his face.

end of flashback

Kumiko sighed. _Had they been found out? That was the fakest wedding I have ever seen. And the worst thing of it is, I was the bride._ Then she brought her fingers to her lips. _My first kiss. Was it also faked?_ She sighed again.

flashback

"You may now kiss the bride." The minister announced, nodding to Shin. Kumiko heard the announcement and refused to meet Shin's eyes. _Do I tell myself to expect a kiss? At the very best, all I can get is a peck on the cheek._

Shin tipped up her face using his right forefinger and chuckled to see that she was averting her eyes. "Don't you get cheeky with me," she ferociously whispered, still keeping her eyes on the basket of flowers at his back. "No I won't," he replied. Then he added, in a whisper that only she could hear, "This is for encouragement." Then kissed her on the lips.

Kumiko's eyes widened, then fluttered shut, amid the cheers of the people in the garden. _My first kiss._

end of flashback

Kumiko sighed and opened her eyes. Then, belatedly realizing where she was, and that she had to move the furniture in her room, she shook her head and slapped herself lightly on the forehead. "You should stop dreaming and get to work, Yamaguchi Kumiko!" She raised a fist in the air and looked around the messy room. She sighed. _So much for encouraging exercises._

"I think it should be Sawada Kumiko. After all, we were married two days ago." Shin said from the doorway.

Kumiko cringed when she heard the voice, and turned her head towards the door. Her raised fist opened and she waved clumsily at her husband. _My husband._ "Hi Shin! How long have you been there?"

"Long enough." He replied, a grin barely hidden from his features. "Long enough to have the enjoyment of seeing your face change in the most extreme of expressions in a span of seconds." He added, much to Kumiko's chagrin. "Really, what were you thinking of?" he asked her, while bringing in a box that he was holding.

"The wedding." She said before she could stop herself.

"Really? Was it that funny, disappointing, scary and exasperating at the same time?" He put down the box and raised his eyebrows at her.

"Umm…you could say that." Kumiko said, moving her table of class pictures so that it would provide more space on the floor, and at the same time, hiding her traitorous blushing face. "Anyway, what do you think of what Uchiyama said during the signing of the wedding certificate?"

His teasing face turned serious. "Oh yes, that. Frankly, I don't know what to do."

"I really think we should tell them the age fiasco." Kumiko said.

"Yes. The age fiasco." He pondered on it for a moment before turning to her, "hey, why was it that you faked your age?"

"I told you, it was just for school. I wanted to teach so badly, so I faked it."

"Yes, I remember. But now, that cover is blown because of this wedding, because you wanted to protect your clan."

"Yes, that's right." _Although there is another reason why I consented to get married to you, a reason you will never find out._ "By the way, why did you agree to get married? There was certainly no clan or family to be worried about."

_Shoot. Shin, think. I could not state that the reason was that I liked you so much that I would settle myself in a fake marriage just to have you. I could not tell you that selfish reason. _"Well, my mother wished for me to get settled, and already she was introducing me to other girls that I didn't even know existed. So I just opted to agree to a marriage with you, since I knew you from before, and to stop her constant nagging of wanting me to get settled down and having grandchildren." Then he turned scarlet at the last phrase, "Well, what I meant was…I mean…"

"Yes, I understand." Kumiko answered.

_She understood about my mother wanting grandchildren?_ Shin thought.

"My grandfather was also nagging me about settling down, but not like your mother I guess, for what he did was just drop subtle hints every now and then." She added.

Shin breathed a sigh of relief. It was as if she ignored the last phrase.

"And one of his subtle hints was saying that I would look lovely as a mother and that how he wished to have little great-grandkiddies running around the clan house." She continued.

His relief was cut by what she said. He dared to glance at Kumiko and saw that she had stopped pushing the bed and had a reminiscent look on her face. Then when she realized what she said, she reddened. "Well, what I meant was…"

Shin sighed once again, and put his arm on her shoulders. "We'll cross that bridge once we get there." She nodded, still red.

"Well, where do you want to sleep?" Kumiko asked him.

"Oh, I don't know, it depends on you." He answered absent-mindedly.

"Um, do you want to take the bed? I'll take the floor, I can just put a mat there and—"

Shin became conscious of his mistake and said, "No, I'll take the floor. You can sleep in your bed; after all, this is your room."

Kumiko looked relieved. "Okay."

Later…

"That's it!" Kumiko exclaimed. "Finished at last!" They had moved the furniture to save space, and had moved Shin's clothes in the closet. "Sorry it's not that big. I was alone in this room before, and it was just right for me." She said to him sheepishly.

"It's okay." He answered.

"Well, I see you have finished!" boomed Kuroda's voice.

Both turned. "Yes, Grandfather. I was just telling Shin that the space is just—"

"Just right." Shin cut her off. Kumiko looked at him gratefully and smiled at her grandfather.

Kuroda chuckled, and said, "Well, why don't we eat in celebration? I can't believe my little Kumiko is married to such a fine lad!"

Both turned red.

------

"General, good morning. Here are the pictures."

"Why, thank you." The General said, while sifting through the pile that showed the wedding, from the march to the reception, until the very end. His hand paused at the couple's kiss, and he chuckled.

"Now that I think of it, why weren't there any other photographers, hidden or not? Didn't the bride and groom want souvenirs? Or videos?" The photographer inquired.

"That is none of your business. Now, here is your pay and be gone."

The photographer walked away, mumbling incoherent strings of words.

------

Ring! Ring!

"Hello?"

"Shin, this is Uchiyama. I need to talk to you and Yankumi."

"Talk? Umm, what about?"

"I'll tell you when we meet. I'll be there at your house in an hour."

"Um, okay. See you." _Uchi's tone seemed serious. What did he want to talk about?_ Then Shin remembered the marriage contract, and called to Kumiko, sweating profusely.

------

Author's Notes: THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS ESPECIALLY TO BLACKJACK7 THE EVER FAITHFUL REVIEWER! Also, SPECIAL THANKS TO SNOWCHARMS! I think I am going to cry…I have reached chapter 6 already…and I am still alive! Hahaha anyway! Here goes! Um, again, italics are thoughts! PLEASE REVIEW!!!! THANK YOU!!!


	7. Getting Used to Each Other

Disclaimer: I do not own gokusen.

Age Matters

Chapter 7

Getting Used to Each Other

"Yes?" Kumiko answered. She was dressed in just a bathrobe and was toweling her hair. She really didn't mean to be seen a little underdressed, and was planning to don on a shirt and a pair of jeans on the bathroom, but then, Shin's voice seemed really urgent. Thus she entered their bedroom in such a state.

"A-A-Ah. Well, Uchi just called, and well, well, yeah." Shin said lamely.

Kumiko didn't miss the red that spread across his face the moment she entered the room. She smiled sheepishly and apologized, "I am really sorry, Shin, for coming out of the bathroom dressed like this but then your tone seemed urgent so I went out and came here as fast as I could and—"

And so Kumiko continued blabbing until Shin tapped her shoulder, and said, "Its okay, anyway, what I was saying was there was a little problem when Uchi called and…" Their eyes met and an awkward silence seemed to persevere. Kumiko had stopped toweling her hair and Shin's right hand had stayed on her right shoulder. Shin was taller, so Kumiko had turned her head up slightly, as they were staring at each other. Shin couldn't quite remember what he was supposed to say as his eyes remained locked with Kumiko's. Likewise, she didn't know if she was supposed to reply or anything. And thus the quiet atmosphere between them persevered, for what seemed like a fairly long time.

Then someone knocked on the door.

Both were still frozen.

"Oi, Shin, are you there!" rang out Uchiyama's voice. That brought them out of their stupor.

"Oh, um, well, um…" Kumiko said, clutching her towel tightly. Shin had already taken away his hand and had stuffed them into his pockets. He called out to Uchi, "Yeah, yeah, coming!" Then he turned to Kumiko and said, "Do you remember the marriage certificate incident that Uchi had witnessed? I think we've been found out." He stated.

Kumiko's eyes widened in shock. "We should tell them before they think that we're lying to them!"

Shin heaved a sigh. "Yes, we should, of course. But first, I'll answer the door and you go get dressed."

Kumiko blushed as she remembered that she was clad only in a bathrobe, and hurriedly pushed him out of the door. "Yes, yes, now go!"

"You don't have to push that hard," Shin teased her, grinning.

Kumiko blushed once more, and closed the bedroom door in his face, "Shin!" _He seemed to have gotten over the fact that he had seen me dressed only in a bathrobe._ She thought, holding her right hand over her chest, which was beating so hard. _Anyway, I have to get dressed!_

------

"It's high time you opened the door." Uchiyama commented. Shin had opened the door to see him tapping his foot on a rock and whistling, looking really bored.

"Well, you could have let yourself in; it wasn't locked in the first place."

"I didn't know what situation I was going to go into. For all I know, you were busy with Yankumi inside," Uchiyama commented cheekily, swaggering inside ahead of Shin.

Shin gaped at him and proceeded to punch him lightly in his upper arm.

"Hey," Uchi commented, ignoring the punch, "I am going to be serious in here, and start with the real reason why I am here. What was with that marriage—"

"Hello Uchi! What brings you here? Oh my, I haven't seen you for days!" Kumiko, now dressed, swept into the room grandly, and proceeded to blabber on about. Shin understood at once that she was trying to distract him, and he tried to send her a silent message through nodding, _Uchiyama is here for the marriage certificate foul-up. _She gave a slight nod in reply and successfully invited Uchiyama into the kitchen to help her prepare tea, amid his grumblings about being a guest.

------

"Ah, yes, life is good." Kumiko announced, sitting down on the floor and leaning against the wall.

Shin glanced sideways at her and grinned. Uchi had been unceremoniously thrown out of the house by Kumiko with the help of her grandfather's announcement of cleaning up the house and asking everyone present to help, the suggestion planted by her of course, just to get rid of him. Of course, the lazy bum wouldn't want to help, no matter what issues he had to clear up. So he had left them in peace, deciding to postpone telling their friends about their ages until later.

"Yes, life is good." He commented, still grinning.

------

And so their good life moved on. For a week, they adjusted to the presence of each other, sharing a room and just basically trying to be comfortable with each other given their present supposed-to-be relationship. It was all very awkward, mind you, was what both of them would say to anyone who bothered to ask.

Why?

Every morning…

Shin would wake up early to Kumiko's light breathing. Then he would go back to sleep after a few minutes of listening to her from his spot on the floor. That was their arrangement—switching the bed. Every other night they would switch sleeping places—one would sleep on the floor and the other on the bed (even if it could now fit two people). He sighed. He couldn't do anything since she was so adamant on switching places. Knowing her stubbornness, she probably would just shush his arguments about their sleeping positions and just turn it against him. There was a time when Kuroda caught them in those positions. He chuckled.

_Flashback_

Kumiko and Shin were settling down on the bed and floor respectively, when they heard a light knock on the door. Before both could react, Kuroda opened the door. There was a thud and a shriek as a very surprised Kumiko fell from the bed onto the floor, onto Shin. He was lying down on the mat with his heads behind his head and Kumiko had landed on top of him, her arms flailing, coming to rest on the mat, on both sides of his head. Her head had banged against his chest gently, and at that, his hands came up to hug her, keep her from falling to the mat.

There was a chuckle from the door, and as they turned they both realized, too late, that Kuroda had witnessed the little scene and perhaps had misinterpreted it. Both blushed and Kumiko instinctively buried her head in Shin's chest again, and his hand also instinctively held it in place, as if protecting her.

There was a click as Kuroda had closed the door, but not after muttering in a voice that they could hear perfectly, "Now that was what I had forgotten—a bed for two people. No wonder they fell with their activities. Must buy a bigger bed immediately."

Kumiko groaned into his chest, but Shin could not help but smile and feel amused. Then he remembered their places, and much as he hated doing it, he nudged her head, and when it rose up to him, he just smiled tentatively at her. She realized and immediately sat up, apologizing profusely, saying that she must be very heavy. And was that a tint of pink on her cheeks? Shin, now very amused, had answered back, "No, you weren't heavy at all." She had blushed and went back to the bed and sleep without a word.

The next day, a larger bed for their room was delivered, much to Kumiko's horror, Shin's amusement, and Kuroda's satisfaction.

"You must talk him out of this!" she hissed to him later.

Shin, still amused, had regarded her closely then replied, "How about you do it? He is your grandfather after all, and besides, we're supposed to be married, and doing those 'activities' he mentioned last night."

Kumiko glared at him while Shin, who was a bit shocked at what he had said to her (and in an airy way at that) chuckled to himself.

_End of flashback_

The new bed and the smaller space on the floor still didn't deter her from insisting that they should switch places. Shin sighed once again, then stopped as an idea began to form in his mind. A lazy grin slowly spread out in his face and he lay back down to catch a few more minutes of sleep. It would be perfect tonight, since he was going to be the one taking the bed.

The next night, as they were getting ready for bed, Shin didn't even notice that Kumiko had entered the room in only a bathrobe. It was a habit of hers to leave her clothes in the room then retrieve them after her bath. Before, Shin would try to occupy himself with other things, so as to hide his red face and resist the temptation to stare. But now was different, since he was already preoccupied with his plan.

"Good night, Shin." Kumiko said from the mat on the floor, to which Shin answered, "Good night, too, Kumiko." He could hear her arranging her blankets, then settling down to sleep. Shin began to count down the minutes, _ten…twenty…twenty-five…thirty._ Then he looked down at her tranquil face and closed eyes from his place on the bed. When he was sure that she was near sleep, he rolled down from the bed onto the floor.

_THUD._

"Ouch!" Shin exclaimed.

"Shin what was that? You landed on me!" Kumiko shrieked.

"Ow! OW!" Shin lay in a fetal position on her mat beside her, clutching his feet.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"OUCH!"

"Shin?" Her voice asked tentatively. His eyes met hers and he nodded, saying in a faint voice, "Yes."

"Seriously?" Concern was etched in her eyes, and Shin thought, _I'm sorry, Kumiko, but I have to do this, so that you'll sleep in the bed. It is your bed after all. I can't take it that there are nights when I am comfortable up there and you are here enduring the cold. YOU should be the one sleeping on the bed._

"I think I am, but I don't know if I can return to that bed anymore."

Her questioning glance prodded him further.

"I don't know if I can still return to the bed without falling down again. See, I'm very mobile when I sleep, so the chances that this incident will happen again are high. I might land on you sleeping, or I might hurt myself. And just think of what your grandfather might think if he heard thuds in the middle of the night." He told her, then added, "He might be ordering bigger beds."

Kumiko paled at the last remark. It was a moment before she answered, "Well then, from now on I will sleep on the bed and you will sleep on the floor." With that she took her blanket and pillow and climbed on the bed.

Shin settled back on his pillows and smiled. _Success._

"Shin why are you smiling? I thought you were supposed to be hurt." Came Kumiko's suspicious voice.

_Oops._

"Nothing. Its nothing," he said, cringing. He heard her chuckle before going back to the much-needed sleep. Hey, even if that fall was fake, it was still a fall.

Later in the night Kumiko looked down from her spot in the bed and chuckled softly. Contrary to what he said earlier, Shin was a peaceful sleeper. Not once did he budge from his starting position once he fell asleep. _Did he make that story up so that I'd be the one sleeping on the bed? _Kumiko shook her head, not believing it, gazing at his sleeping face. _But then…what else would be the reason? …you really are a nice guy, Shin Sawada._

------

That was their ritual every night. When morning would come, it was Kumiko's habit to greet the world every first few moments. Shin would wake up for the second time after hearing that, smiling at her cheery mood. _I think she has turned me into a morning person._ Then he would promptly shut his eyes, waiting for her voice…which never failed him.

"Oh, Shin, wake up!" Kumiko would climb down from her perch on the bed to kneel down on the mat, gently shaking him. "Wake up or do you want me to kiss sleeping beauty?"

Then Shin would open an eye and answer her in a tired voice, "Waking up, waking up…" She would grin at him and walk out of the door, slowly, to hear him comment, "One morning I might not wake up to see if you would really kiss me."

She gave him another swift grin before walking out of the room.

That was their ritual every morning, without fail. The first time both had screwed up enough courage to make those comments, they had blushed; but not now, after more than a week of repeating their teasing.

Breakfast would then follow, which was taken part by every member of the house. At first, Shin had to endure the looks and questions by the other men gang members, but they had accepted him after the first day, except for one thin guy…whom he did not know the name and would not even bother to ask. The guy would always glare at him whenever he took his seat beside Kumiko, and it would be more intense once Shin would smile at his wife and she would smile back.

His wife. Well, his wife seemed to be more at ease compared to him at the clan table which was full of mostly men, which wasn't really a surprise. What surprised him most was that she seemed to be one of the men, joking and laughing with them, but still having the ease and subtle grace natural to women. These thoughts would often cross his mind as he would snap his chopstick and begin to eat.

------

Another one of Kumiko's habits that had stuck to him after always being with her 24/7 was her hair. Yes, ever since that was her foremost assets. Long, black and shiny, yet after a week, he realized that it was always up. He remembered back—when she would teach, it would always be in pigtails. Even in her house, it would always be in a half pony, held up by a clip or by chopsticks. He remembered that the only times when she would put her hair down was when she would fight, which he often witnessed when he was still a clueless high school junkie, and when she would sleep. It seemed as if she only let it down in times when she would show her true self. Her hair was very pretty, and whenever she did put it down, he could not help but stare at it, especially every night when she would brush it. There was one night when he could not help but reach out and feel it cascading from his fingertips. She had stopped brushing her hair and looked at him questioningly as he just ran his finger down the black waterfall.

"Shin?"

"Sssh." He said to her, and took the brush from her fingers, taking over the job of brushing her hair. She smiled and let him, closing her eyes as she leaned her back on her chair.

Ever since that night, whenever she had finished bathing and changing her clothes, she would sit down on her chair, and Shin, taking his cue, would set down the book he was reading and would proceed to brush her hair.

------

Kumiko had her own share of witnessing Shin's quirks and eccentricities. Every morning at breakfast he would take the seat next to her, always left empty by her watchful grandfather. At the first day she watched quietly as he nervously answered all of the questions and joked and laughed back. She smiled into her bowl when she concluded that her clan had accepted him as her husband. She smiled at the word. _Husband. _

Every night before lights off he would be reading a book or a magazine. Curious as to what it was about, one night she looked at its cover.

_A biography of a businessman?_ Kumiko thought. Nevertheless she was weirded out. _This is Shin we're talking about. Why would he be reading a biography? I cannot even imagine him reading a book!_

The next day she took a look at his magazines, convinced that perhaps it was manga, or a gamers' magazine. But no. It was a collection of Time and Forbes, and other business magazines. _The hell?_ Kumiko was confused.

And so one night, after he was finished brushing her hair and had picked up a magazine once more, she strode over to his place on the floor and sat down beside him.

"What are you reading?"

He looked up at her through his reading glasses (_Yes, he is even using reading glasses! _Kumiko's mind screamed) and said, "Forbes."

"And?" Kumiko prompted him.

"And what?" He asked her, confused.

"Oh, never mind." She said quickly and climbed up on the bed. She could feel him regarding her curiously, and she could swear she heard a faint chuckle but when she turned her head to him he was reading the magazine again.

He cleared his throat and said, "I'm going back to work tomorrow. The one and a half week marriage leave they granted me is over."

_He is working?!?!?!_ Kumiko then realized that she had a lot to know about Shin. "Okay. I also have to return to teaching tomorrow, I guess." She just answered. _Hmm..I wonder where he works. Guess I'll found out tomorrow._

------

Kumiko woke up before the alarm she set last night and started to greet the day. When she was about to wake Shin up she realized that he wasn't still sleeping at the mat. She looked at the clock. _Seven fifteen. I wonder where he is?_

Then Shin strode in the room wearing black pants and a polo shirt. He was tying a tie around his neck, and didn't seem to notice that Kumiko was openly staring at him after a few moments.

"Yes?" He asked her.

"Don't tell me you work as a hotshot executive in an extremely large and profitable company." She said all in a rush.

"Well, not really, but I guess you could say I am one step closer to being that." He answered her lightly.

"WHAT?!?!?!" Kumiko shouted, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Well, you never asked. And hurry up or you'll be late for work." He said in the same light tone, still struggling with his tie. "Stupid tie. I always spend at least ten minutes putting it on." He muttered under his breath.

Kumiko seemed to have gotten over her initial shock and went up to him and fixed his tie. "Is that the reason why you woke up earlier? In case you haven't noticed, it's only seven-fifteen. Work won't be until eight. There is still plenty of time." She said while effortlessly arranging his tie. "There!" She said when she finished, tapping the tie then at his polo shirt so as to smoothen out the creases.

"Thanks," he said softly, and that was when Kumiko's twinkling eyes rose up to meet his. _Big mistake, Kumiko._ She thought, for she was now lost in his eyes, swimming in its warm depths. She could see it go closer and closer to her own.

Closer.

Closer.

_RRINGG!!!!_

They broke out of the trance and Kumiko hurried to her bedside to shut down her alarm clock. She heard him sigh. _Stupid alarm clock. _She also sighed. _Wait! Why am I thinking like this?!_

"I'm going to go get breakfast." Shin said.

"Okay, I'm just going to take a bath." She answered back, feeling somewhat empty.

------

Shin stopped at the school, after a lengthy argument in which Kumiko had insisted that the school was close and she can walk, as she always did before. Shin had cut off the argument by picking her up bridal style and deposited her in the passenger side of his car.

"Well, we're here." He said to her. She just folded her arms, angry at him for always winning the arguments. Shin sighed. "Am I supposed to carry you up there too?"

Kumiko took a deep breath and shook her head. In a flash, she was out of the car and walking towards the school building.

"Not even a goodbye." Shin muttered. But he was surprised to hear the car door in his side open up and Kumiko stick her head in. Her head hovering near his, she said, "Just for luck, and to resume what we started earlier." Then she leaned in and kissed him softly. On the lips.

Time stopped. That was the only appropriate phrase describing what both felt.

Kumiko pulled away, smiled at Shin's dumbstruck face briefly and walked towards the building, waving at him.

Shin was left there frozen for a few moments before his face broke into an ear to ear grin and he zoomed away.

------

Kumiko herself couldn't help smiling while walking, and was surprised to hear a voice beside her, saying, "So, you got married."

Her head snapped sideways and she stopped, exclaiming, "Shinohara!"

"Good morning Kumiko." Shinohara nodded at her. "Well?"

"Good morning! Well, yes." She answered him.

"Congratulations, then. I guess I won't be allowed to give you flowers every morning at the gate from now on." He replied, his eyes looking far away. "Now, off you go, you don't want to be late. It might ruin your happy mood. Bye."

"Thank you. Well, goodbye then!" She answered, and they walked their separate ways. There was something about his flat tone that she couldn't help feeling guilty. She shrugged off the feeling, reasoning, _We were over before Shin even returned._

------

"Good morning everybody!" Kumiko said when she entered the faculty room.

"Kumiko is it true that you're married?"

"Yes." She answered, still smiling.

"Congratulations!"

At her classroom…

"Good morning!" Kumiko greeted her class.

"Yankumi is it true that while you were away you got married?" one of her students exclaimed.

"Yes."

"Aww…Congratulations!" The whole class exclaimed, amid whoops and cheers. "What's your name now?"

"Sawada Kumiko." She answered. _Somehow, saying the name makes me feel breathless and elated._

"Can we still call you Yankumi?" The question was asked by a rather skinny guy.

"Of course!"

------

At Shin's company building, he was bombarded by congratulations and taps from the back by his peers. The guy could not help but grin all throughout. His officemates concluded that the marriage was good for him since the once serious guy was now seen grinning easily.

------

At a conference room somewhere in Japan…

"See? My son has married nicely." The general said, passing around photographs as evidence.

"He is a nice and smart boy, isn't it a waste to marry him off to one of the underground gangs?" asked one man with glasses. He was examining the photos closely. "Does he even know the reason why you set him up with a yakuza woman?"

"Do not question my decisions!" The general roared. "It is for the good of this organization! Now why don't you follow my example and marry your sons off, too!"

"I-I-I am sorry general, but my son is just 15. I cannot possibly let him marry a yakuza woman—" The man with glasses stuttered.

"Selfish coward." The general cut him off. "I will forgive you this time. Next time, if you ever question my judgment again, I will see that your son can never marry, nor live."

The man paled. "Y-Yes, general, I am sorry."

"Very well, then." The general said to the assembly, not even bothering to acknowledge the man with glasses. "The first step for our trial infiltration is complete. I shall keep everyone posted about the next step, and see if we are successful."

Everyone nodded and the general sneered. _Little do these people know that I am just using this underground organization for my own rise to wealth. _

"Dismissed!"

------

Back in the general's office, the intercom crackled to life.

"General?" his secretary said.

"Yes?"

"Phone call in line three. Senator Toshiro."

The general picked up the cordless phone labeled line two, and answered, "General Sawada speaking. What may I do for you, Senator?"

------

AN: I know I know I know, everyone is saying, "That is all you can do for your nearly two month's absence?!?!" I AM SO SO SORRY! GOMEN NASAI!!!! whimpers and cowers from pissed-off reviewers advancing on her 

_Bang!_

(Author dead, shot by an angry and dissatisfied reviewer)

But before that: GUYS! PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE! EVEN IF YOU ARE DISAPPOINTED AND ANGRY! TELL ME IN A REVIEW! Oh, and this is all so OOC, am I right? And sorry I forgot the name of the skinny clan guy who also likes Yankumi…Tell me in a review! Do review! Do review!

_Bang!_

(Author shot again, now double dead.)

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!


	8. Complications

A/N: Warning: Because of my innocence in yakuza matters I am going to be making some things up as I go along. So please bear with me and tell me if I have written any erroneous things down, ne? Thanks!

Warning number 2: Slight umm…lemons? That's what you call mature scenes right? Um, just slight! Though you can skip them (I think).

Disclaimer: I do not own Gokusen.

Age Matters?

Chapter 8

Complications

"Well, how is our plan going on?" Senator Toushiro's voice was heard from the phone General Sawada was holding.

"Perfectly. My son is now living in the actual house. I won't be surprised if he could gain their trust in a short time." General Sawada smirked into the phone.

"You seem to forget that your son does not know what we are planning, and that he has inherited your rebellious streak." Senator Toushiro said cautiously.

"As I told you before, it's perfectly fine. Because of that rebelliousness I would never tell him our plans—he is much too goody-goody for that. But I can manipulate him just fine. I can see that he is besotted with the woman, in fact, they are clearly in love with each other according to my men, and that works to our better advantage. Blind kids. Ha." Came the satisfied answer.

"How about your wife?" blurted out Toushiro.

"Do I give a damn about what she thinks?" Sawada spat vehemently.

Toushiro gave a cough and cleared his throat, "But it would be better of the girl was in a higher position."

"True, true." The general said contemplatively. "I think she has a high enough position because her marriage was rendered important, but I wouldn't wager on a position higher than a distant relative. She is fairly fragile, and there is also the fact that she is a girl, thus there is no way the leadership could be passed to her."

"And have you given any thought about how your son would react once we have succeeded with the plan? Would he legitimize you as a member? I highly doubt it." Came the senator's voice, ever so cautious, since he has treaded the same uneven ground twice. And of course the reaction was expected.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I have everything perfectly under control?! Do not breach my authority on things you have no business with whatsoever!" the general bellowed.

"It is my business—!" Toushiro began, but Sawada had slammed down the phone.

He sighed, and said, presumably to the other occupants of the room, "Sometimes he forgets that I am a Senator."

Turning to the men clad in black surrounding him, he said, "Well, there you see. He says he has everything under control. If the plan would work, and that we'll never know until it is acted upon."

The men nodded and proceeded out.

At the hallway outside the Senator's office…

"Well, sir?" one man in black turned to another. "Shall we take action?"

"We have to wait," came the steady answer. "We do not have solid evidence."

"Wasn't that phone call enough?" was the confused question of the first man.

"Yes, if you heard them actually saying what 'this' and 'the plan' is." Snapped the second guy, obviously frustrated at the other person's lack of logic.

"Oh. Sorry sir," the first guy amended, ashamed of his stupid blunder.

------

After having slammed down the phone, General Sawada folded his fingers together in front of him, eyes furrowed in angry contemplation, but then his face cleared, and he began to leer at the distance.

------

The days that followed the return to work of the 'newly-weds' droned on like the routine of bees in their every day life. They would go to work together riding in Shin's car, him dropping Kumiko off at the school, sometimes earning a peck on the cheek when she felt like it. Shin couldn't deny that he was looking forward to those 'pecks' everyday, even if they were nothing to the first car kiss he had received from her. The suspense of whether she was going to kiss him or not was what always jumpstarted his day. _But still, they were only pecks on the cheek, nothing major. She didn't kiss me on the lips again,_ Shin thought one morning, when he was driving to work. Then he shook his head, _Must stop thinking those thoughts. Must think of work. Work. Work. Work._ Yet, when he would come into his office, he would be whistling, and again, his officemates would wonder who his wife was, and that she had changed him a lot.

Every afternoon, Kumiko would be waiting at the school gate for Shin. Then together they would go home. Mostly, they would spend lunch in their respective workplaces, but sometimes, when Shin was on a whim, he would swing by the high school during lunchtime, in search of Kumiko. Whatever she was doing she would stop and greet him with a radiant smile. He would oh-so-casually invite her out to lunch, and she would beam once more, stand up and go with him, waving vaguely to her co-teachers, who were frequently raising their eyebrows at the uncanny pair—the teacher and her ex-student, now her husband. Not to mention that when they were student-teacher five years ago, she was very infuriated with him and he very annoyed with her constant interfering. Oh well, at least they were happy. And that was what all of their officemates noted in unison—they were both very, very happy.

But then there was still impending doom—in the form of Uchiyama and the seen marriage contract. They may have sidetracked the problem before, but it was going to be brought up once again, eventually. And it did—it presented itself to them one more time.

------

One Saturday…

"This time I will not be kicked out of your house!" Uchiyama yelled from the street outside of the gates. "Let me in, I know you are there, Shin, Yankumi! I demand an explanation about that wedding whatsit contract!"

Kumiko peered through a crack in the wooden gate, "Well, Shin, what do we do?" She said frantically to the man beside her.

Shin scratched his head and answered her in a whisper, "Sssh. Just wait for him to leave, I guess?"

"We can't avoid him forever!" Kumiko's voice was still frantic, but it dropped into a whisper.

Shin shrugged and opened his mouth to say something just as they heard Uchiyama yell again, "Fine! I am leaving! But let it be known that I will get an explanation, no matter what!" Then they heard him leave, his footsteps echoing on the sidewalk.

Shin shrugged again, giving Kumiko a sideways grin, as if saying _There you go, he left. We can't do anything anymore now._

Kumiko sighed. "I don't think this is the time to joke around. He seemed serious, Shin!" She looked at him imploringly, but Shin just took her arm and half-pulled her back to the house, unlocking the wooden gate in the process.

"It's fine. He is never serious about his threats."

"But he might be serious this time!" Kumiko persisted, her voice uncharacteristically shrill.

Shin dropped his grip on her and shrugged, then silently proceeded to the house alone.

_Oh. He got angry at me?_ Kumiko thought blankly as she stared at his retreating back.

------

The next few hours were tense for the both of them. Shin still hasn't spoken to Kumiko ever since the earlier incident at the gates. _He is still silent, and he acts as if not talking to me at all is okay._ Kumiko thought frustratingly as she sat at the living room, trying to check papers. Trying. She kept giving Shin furtive glances every now and then, and getting more and more annoyed by the second, because he seemed to be _fine_, even if they were quarreling. _Well, was that a quarrel? Or close to one, I guess?_ Kumiko thought.

The bell rang and Shin stood up. For the nth time Kumiko looked up at him and for the first time Shin turned looked at and spoke to her. Kumiko waited eagerly for what he would say, and struggled to keep from looking disappointed when what he said was something mundane as, "I'll go get the door. Or the gate, whatever." She nodded curtly without looking at him and made a show of getting back to her papers, then glanced up when she was sure that Shin had turned his back on her.

She sighed and held her head up. _Fine. If you are going to treat me this way, I won't back down. All of you watch out._

"Kumiko? Visitors." Shin had returned and his voice, surprisingly, was a bit sheepish.

Kumiko looked up, confused as to the change in his behavior manifested by his voice. To her horror she saw the whole entourage of his friends—all four of them. Yep, all were there, Noda, Minami, Kuma and Uchiyama, all with raised eyebrows demanding for explanations, and Uchiyama was looking at them smugly, hands folded across his chest, as if they were the one to be blamed for this.

"Hi guys!" Kumiko said in fake cheerfulness. Her greeting was met by an icy silence. She glanced at Shin and he was looking at her, too, still sheepishly. His eyes were asking that she be the one to explain everything to the lot.

_The nerve!_ Kumiko thought, and then she squared her shoulders and tilted her chin slightly higher. "Well, then. May I invite you to sit down?" She said politely, inclining her head to the empty chairs.

They did, and when they were settled, looked up expectantly at her.

She sent a discreet murderous look to Shin, took a deep breath, and started to explain.

------

An hour later, the four slammed the door to the house and trooped out of the gates, obviously angry, mumbling things about "trust…couldn't even tell us…we're friends for heaven's sake!...lying to us…for years…"

Inside the house, Kumiko sighed and slumped down on her chair. Earlier, she had made a vow of strength and courage with herself, never to falter and be reduced to tears and begging, whatever their reaction may be. That was what had stopped her from running after the four when they walked out of the house. But now…well now was another thing. She could abandon that vow since there was no one else in the room, well, if you do not count her husband, who was seated stonily on one chair, openly staring at her in a quite furious expression. Well, she didn't care. That's what she said to herself, anyway.

Shin regarded her darkly. _How could she explain everything to them in that cool, detached manner? They are my friends—they are _our_ friends!_

"How could you—?!" He began, but Kumiko had stood up, saying "I am going to my room," in the same detached tone.

But as she began to walk away, Shin noticed that she was struggling to keep her chin up and back straight. All admonitions banished and he got up too and started to follow her intending to apologize, but the loud _SLAM!_ of their bedroom door halted him, and he decided to pursue an alternate strategy instead.

------

Shin knocked gently on the door to their bedroom, and waited for Kumiko to open the door. When she did not, he tried it, and upon discovering that it was open, he turned the knob and closed the door after him.

She was seated on the floor, cooped up with her back against one of the corners of the bed. She wasn't crying, he realized, she was just staring into space. _The door was unlocked, _Shin thought. _Did it mean that she had wanted me to come after her before? _He mulled over this thought in confusion for a moment then concluded, _Nah. Kumiko won't reduce herself to those lady-ish whims. I think._

He approached her and sat down beside her, his back against the bed, too. She didn't budge, as if she didn't notice that he had settled himself beside her, as if no one was there at all. Slowly he set down the bottle of cocktails he had hastily ordered at a random bar. The bartender there was not willing to repackage his custom-made cocktail into a bottle, but Shin had insisted on the sweetest and best drink they had. And there it was, what it was made of he didn't know and didn't care. It didn't matter now, anyway.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her glance at him sideways before returning to musing over random nothingness. He realized with a jolt that she had indeed waited for him, and wanted him to follow her earlier. Then he suddenly remembered her crying-into-the-tablecloth episode, where she said that her hormones had overtaken her. _Well, so much for thinking Kumiko would not subject herself to lady-ish whims. _ He sighed, and then stopped himself. _Shin, she is also a girl, with hormones just like any other,_ he thought, reprimanding himself.

He cleared his throat, and when Kumiko still wouldn't look at him, he took a more direct means. Using a finger, he reached out and gently, effortlessly tipped her face to look at him. He was met by her eyes, carefully devoid of any emotion.

He sighed, and started, "I know you're angry. One, because I did not follow you in here earlier, two, because I asked you to be the one to explain to them about the age fiasco, and three, because I ignored you this morning about Uchi. And I am so sorry. Please do accept my apology, even if I am not the best guy with these kinds of things."

Her eyes widened, and he responded to her unanswered question wryly, "I do know how to understand and be insightful too, you know."

Her eyes softened and they smiled. It may not have been much change in her pretty features, which, he realized just then, were paler than they had been before, but it was enough for him to know that she had forgiven him. And he was very thankful because she forgave him quickly.

He quickly drew her into his arms and held her there for quite a long time, her head comfortably ensconced in the crook between his neck and shoulder, his nose inhaling her sweet-smelling hair, burying itself into the silky black strands.

It was twhen she noticed the bottle of cocktails that she withdrew from his embrace. He let her go—reluctantly. "What is that?" she asked, pointing at the bottle using her lips, trying to ignore the lingering touch of his fingers on her waist and shoulder.

"Oh, cocktails." He said, distracted by the full and pouting pinkness whose owner's eyes were now regarding him silently with an unasked question.

"I was supposed to apologize profusely with these, but then I sort of forgot it. We could use this for celebration." He said, grinning uncertainly at her.

"What's there to celebrate about?"

"Well, the fact that we have finally told our friends about the ages, even if it turned out to be worse than our imaginations, and that you finally forgave me." He answered, hesitating a bit, gauging her reactions.

She was quiet for a bit, then answered, "Well then, do you have glasses?"

He breathed a quiet sigh of relief and she noted it with amusement before he replied, "Yes," and produced two glasses from out of nowhere, it seemed to her.

------

HICCUP! HIC! HIC!

Occasional hiccups could be heard from the bedroom of the clan heiress and her husband. Now and then, raucous laughter would erupt; abruptly stop for a few moments, just to begin once more, louder than before.

"Ahahahaha! Yes! The expression on their faces when they found out about our ages was so funny!" Kumiko screamed, her face pink from both the laughter and the drink she was holding.

"Yah! And they said they don't trust us! Don't trust us!" Shin roared back in gales of mirth.

Obviously both were drunk because of the cocktails Shin had brought, which he didn't even know the contents and which he hadn't even bothered to ask earlier.

Kumiko stopped laughing and cocked an eyebrow up at Shin, "My, my dear, your speech is getting slurred. Are you drunk?" She asked pointedly.

Shin faced her too and, swaying a bit, retorted back, "Why of course I am not drunk. You're the one drunk."

Kumiko eyed him and said, "I will not lose in this drinking contest you perpetrated." She took out the bottle and poured some more of the drink into her glass and handed him the bottle before delicately sipping her drink, grimacing in between. "Are you up to the challenge?"

Shin accepted the bottle and poured more into his own wineglass, mumbling, "I have not said anything about any drinking challenge." But still, he gulped down his drink.

"What is this made of anyway? I think we got drunk pretty fast." Kumiko commented, looking at the swirling concoction in her wineglass, cross-eyed. She was very perceptive for a drunk, it seemed.

Shin halfheartedly reached out a hand to close her eyes and answered, "I don't know."

"Take off your hand! I can't see," Kumiko said.

"No I won't, unless you admit that it was you who wanted the drinking challenge, not me."

"No I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

Shin blinked. "Huh?" He blinked once more and said, "Yay you agreed! But I still won't take off my hand because you took so long." He cheered then pouted childishly.

"Grr." Kumiko deftly pried out his hand from her eyes and bit it.

"Ouch! You are so naughty!" Shin exclaimed then began to tickle her mercilessly. She was now lying down on the floor, Shin on top of her, tickling her sides and stomach and neck, the two wineglasses forgotten, their contents sloshed on the floor.

She was laughing and screaming and exclaiming "Stop!" all at the same time, and when she said, "I give up! I give up! I give up!" Shin stopped tickling her. But he did not get up; he just froze in his position on top of her, his forearms braced on the floor on both sides of her face as his only support, so as not to squish her. Their faces were just inches from each other. His gaze roved from her unruly black hair to her bright eyes to her flushed face…and finally resting on wet, pink lips. He looked back into her eyes, vulnerable and also looking back at him, and said in a whisper, "I love you."

Kumiko saw Shin's eyes drop from her face to her lips, and she was so disoriented and entranced by their position (and by the fact that she was drunk) that she stared back at him. It was all so quiet, and she heard him perfectly when he confessed.

"I love you, too." She replied.

After that exchange of words, they stared at each other for what seemed like a very long time. A second later, their lips met in a passionate kiss.

For Shin, her response could never be compared to the kiss he had stolen from her that night while she slept, when he had brought her home from the bar. For Kumiko, the passion could never be compared to the sweetness of their wedding kiss. Or what she considered as their first kiss, for that matter.

Chaste at first, it gave way to more cravings, and soon his tongue was probing her mouth and she was responding back to his kisses, pressing herself to him, her fingers in his hair, clutching it tightly.

He tore his mouth away from hers and kissed her neck, pulling her sweater and shirt over her head. She, in turn, pulled his own shirt off through his head. He stood up, planning to carry her to the bed, but when he lifted her into his arms, his knees wobbled because of lightheadedness and a drink too many. With great effort he laid her on the bed. He settled himself beside her, kissing her neck once more, but his eyelids were beginning to droop, then they closed. He struggled to open them once more, and he saw that she was asleep. Too tired and sleepy to react, he drifted into his own slumber.

------

Rays of light filtered in from the small crevice uncovered by the curtains in the room, and Kumiko attempted to raise a hand to cover her eyes from that blinding light. But she discovered that her whole body ached tremendously that she could not even lift the said hand. Not to mention that her head was throbbing like crazy. _What happened? Am I down with the flu or something?_ She tattempted to raise the hand again and tentatively touched her forehead. She winced._ Oh well, it's a good thing its Sunday, I don't have work. _Satisfied with her reasoning, she rolled over, never bothering to open her eyes all the time, and discovered that something warm and soft was beside her on the bed. _Hmm. A pillow? So warm._ She extended a hand to hug the said pillow and was surprised to feel it move. And was that…skin she touched?! Opening a weary eye she looked, and what she saw made her feel like screaming.

Abruptly she withdrew her hands away once she discovered that Shin was beside her, naked. Then she realized that she only had her bra on, no shirt and no sweater. Hands clamped on her mouth to keep her from screaming and thus attracting attention, she opened the blanket covering them to see that she still had her pants on, _thank you_. Daring herself, she glanced at Shin's uncovered form and was very much relieved to see that he also had his pants on.

_Still, I can't be sure, _she thought, and slowly got up off the bed, careful not to wake him up. She retrieved her shirt and put them on, and scanned the sheets and floor, anywhere, and was very much relieved to see that there was no sign of blood. She even tried to peek on the part of the sheet where Shin was sleeping.

Then Kumiko crept out of the room and went to a garden at the back of the house. It was there where she allowed herself to remember what had happened, but her mind came up with nothing. _What had happened last night? All I remember is Shin going inside the room then apologizing, then drinking cocktails together. _She slapped her forehead. _That's it! We were drunk! That's why I could not remember anything. _She bit her lip. _But what had happened last night? Was I the only one drunk or was Shin also drunk? Had he taken advantage of me? If he did, was he aware? HAD we done IT?!_ These questions began to nag Kumiko. _Somehow I cannot believe that he took advantage of me, and well, I don't feel anything else except for being really tired and having a headache. I don't feel anything in that…that area, so I guess we hadn't done it. _She took a deep breath. _But why did I wake up to find the both of us half-naked?! _She couldn't think up any answer to that, and sighed. _Actually it really doesn't matter because we are married,_ she consoled herself. _But now I won't know if he loves me or not, or if he just acted upon plain lust. _

Kumiko sighed into the morning air.

------

With a groan Shin woke up, attempting to sit up. _Why is it so cold?_ He thought, rubbing his arms, and then he belatedly realized that he was half-naked. At that he sat up abruptly. _What happened last night? Why did I sleep on the bed? Why am I half-naked?_ These questions began haunting him as he got up and pulled on a random shirt. He stopped abruptly as another question resurfaced from his mind hazy with alcohol: _if I slept on the bed, where did Kumiko sleep?_

This was the question he asked her when he saw her out in the garden, presumably breathing some fresh air. "Hey, Kumiko! Where did you sleep last night? What happened last night?" He asked her while combing his fingers through his hair.

Kumiko's head quickly snapped to his direction when she heard his voice. Sizing him up with a passing glance, she answered, "Nothing. We got drunk. I woke up on the floor." _So it means he doesn't remember, too? Or is he just covering himself up for any 'sin' he might have done last night?_ Studying him again subtly with the corner of her eye, she asked him a question of her own, "Why do you ask? Didn't you remember?"

Shin grinned sheepishly at her. "No, I couldn't remember a thing. And I'm so sorry for sleeping on the bed. I should have been man enough to remain sober longer than you did and should have switched our places. Sorry," he said. Then he added under his breath, "And to think I was half-naked then." It was said in a voice that Kumiko wasn't supposed to hear, but she heard anyway. She realized that he didn't remember anything. _But it still did not mean that we were innocent last night. _She sighed. There was only one way to know that—if in the next time that she did it she wouldn't feel pain, then it meant that she had lost herself to Shin last night. _But its not as if it would make any difference, since I can't do it anyway—the only legitimate person I could do it with would be my husband, which would never happen, since currently I am accusing him of touching me without any permission. That's weird, a wife accusing her husband of doing it with her, when they're supposed to be able to do that. _Inside, Kumiko was torn between mortification and laughter, though her face was carefully void of any emotions, lest Shin would react. She looked at him, who was sipping the coffee he brought, rubbing his head.

She sighed. It was all too complicated.

------

AN: This was the most difficult chapter I had ever written. Well, please tell me if that was the worst chapter. IN A REVIEW! Do review! Do review! Do review! Da-da-dum! Thanks a lot! -rhia


	9. Confession

Disclaimer: I do not own Gokusen.

Age Matters?

Chapter 9

Confession

Shin and Kumiko weren't the only ones who drowned their sorrows in alcohol last night.

"Why didn't they tell us before?" Kuma spluttered out, swallowing handfuls of beer.

"I don't know. We are supposed to be their friends." Minami tried to answer Kuma's question half-heartedly.

"Yes, I don't know why they can't tell us what their real ages are! It's just basic information!" Noda slammed his own bottle of beer on the table.

"Yes, indeed. Just a simple age matter." Minami agreed.

"I don't think they trust us. Remember what Yankumi said? And the way she said it?" Uchiyama shook his head in frustration.

"Yeah," the other three chorused. The effects of the alcohol still haven't shown, apparently. It's as if their anger slowed the beer down.

[flashback

"Well, what the document stated was true. The both of us are actually twenty-six years old." Kumiko said coolly.

Noda attempted to open his mouth to ask why they didn't tell the four of them, but Kumiko just cut through him.

"The reason we couldn't tell you before are the same reasons as they are now, and I'm sorry that we still can't divulge that piece of information to the four of you. It's still very much complicated," Kumiko finished breezily.

[end of flashback

"See? Was that even Yankumi who was speaking? She didn't sound like our high school teacher." Uchiyama sloshed beer down his throat.

"I don't know, and Shin just sat there."

"But did you see the expression in Yankumi's eyes?" Minami asked, finishing all of the chasers in the table.

Silence.

It was Kuma who spoke up, "Yes, it was as if she was hurt. If we were just to listen to her, she sounded very…arrogant. But when I actually looked at her, her eyes…they reflected hurt."

"Whoa! You sound like a painter or a literature whatsit teacher!" Noda roared, laughing.

Uchiyama glared at Noda and the latter obediently shut up. "Kuma is right," he said. "It was as if Yankumi was forcing herself to act that way."

"And did anybody see how Shin reacted?" Minami asked again.

"Yes," answered Noda, who had sobered down from his laughter. "He was angry."

"Angry at whom? At Yankumi? Why?" Minami asked.

"Minami!" Kuma boomed, "Too many questions!" He bonked Minami on the head.

"Well, I'm sorry! It's to keep this discussion going, you know!" Minami cried out, clutching his head.

"Yeah, we're supposed to be having an intelligent discussion." Uchiyama said.

"Over beer?" Snorted Noda. He and Uchiyama glared at each other.

"Hey boys! Break it up!" Kuma shouted, bonking them both on the head too. The two shifted their glares at him.

Minami laughed, and said something successful in swaying them from their impending fight, "So what are we going to do now? Yankumi didn't mean to treat us that way—that much I can deduce even while drunk. Shin was angry because she treated us like that; we just don't know why he didn't stop her or brought the talking down to himself. So are we going to forgive them, ignore them for a while then forgive them, or hate them forever?" He emphasized the three choices by putting down three bottles of beer on the table—one full, representing the first choice, the second half-full, representing the second choice, and the third empty, for 'hate them forever.'

"I can never ignore a full bottle of beer." Noda said, apparently drunk, but then he added something that confirmed the otherwise, "And I can never hate Yankumi and Shin forever." Closing his eyes, he leaned back on his seat. "We have been through a lot just to be destroyed by a simple age matter." He said, quoting Minami from earlier.

"But what about the reasons why they changed their ages?" Kuma asked.

"I think," Uchiyama spoke up, "that we can just trust them, I guess."

"Trust them when they didn't trust us?" snorted Kuma.

Uchi sighed, "I think there is a far deeper reason as to why they kept their ages secret than 'they couldn't trust us'. I think the best thing to do now would be to trust them, that the information they hid from us isn't able to destroy anyone we know—"

"No I think it won't," sang Minami.

"And go on trusting them unconditionally. After all, what are friends for?" Uchiyama finished. "I'll pick the full bottle of beer, and I think Minami does, too?" He looked at Minami. Minami nodded.

"So, Kuma?" Noda said, placing his, Minami and Uchi's hands on the full bottle of beer.

There was a few moments of pondering silence before Kuma said, "Noda is right, a person can never ignore a full bottle of beer."

The other three cheered.

"But I have a condition."

The three stopped in the middle of motioning victory.

Kuma broke out a grin. "As long as I will be the one to drink that bottle of beer."

The three bonked him on the head.

------

The next morning, at Kumiko's clan house, breakfast was underway. Shin was still the same—eating his own fill, occasionally glaring back at Tetsu. Kumiko, however, was feeling fake. She was putting on a show for everyone, Shin and herself.

The moment she entered the dining room she put on the fakiest, brightest smile she had done her whole life. This smile was put on display whenever someone would pass her food, mostly Shin. So the smile was always given to him. No, that was wrong, since she was never able to make eye contact with him. The smile was given to the platter of food and the barely audible 'thanks' to Shin. Shin wondered if something was wrong with Kumiko. Every breakfast she would participate in the rowdy jokes and discussions with the other clan men, but now was different. All throughout breakfast he kept on eyeing her. _Is it a hangover from all that we drank last night? And I noticed she has been avoiding me._ He cringed. _I shouldn't have brought alcohol. I'm going to apologize to her after breakfast._

------

"Hey, Kumiko?" Kumiko heard someone calling out her name in a tentative voice. She spun around abruptly, then clutched her head, saying "Oww…"

"Are you okay?" the voice said.

"Yes, yes, I am. I just need to sit down." She told the voice, _whoever you are_, she thought.

Strong arms wound around her and helped her towards something to sit on.

"I'm sorry." The voice said.

_What are you sorry for?_ Kumiko thought, attempting to say it, but could not because of her throbbing head. Taking a deep breath, she raised her head to face the carrier of the voice…Shin. Inwardly, she cringed. She had been avoiding him like the plague all morning, afraid of what her reactions to him might be, given the situation last night. And now…now, perhaps he was apologizing for an unknown reason.

But…he looked…worried, genuinely worried. Kumiko managed a weak smile at him. _I guess I'll just have to listen to whatever he has to say. _She said, "What are you sorry for?"

"For being unable to take care of you and bringing alcohol last night." He said, concern flickering over his eyes.

Kumiko waved a hand "Oh no, no, I'm fine, it's just that I spun around a little too quickly a while ago," she said, evading what he truly meant by using the earlier incident as an excuse.

"Well that is still one of the effects of me bringing the alcohol last night."

"It's really fine, it's not as if I haven't drunk before, you know."

"But I brought a lot."

Kumiko smiled up at him, "No. You didn't bring a lot. You just didn't know what the cocktails were made of."

"Then I'm sorry for that."

"Shin!" She said, laughing a little, "Why are you in such an apologizing mood today?"

That earned a smile from his serious face. He shrugged, "It's because I hate thinking that you're having a difficult time because of what I did."

Kumiko's smile softened, "I'm really, really fine." _He is sweet._

"That's good to know, then," he said, sitting down next to her. "Do you want to rest for a bit?"

Kumiko nodded, and placed her head on the crook between Shin's shoulder and neck. Taken aback by what she did, Shin looked down at her and saw that her eyes had closed. What Shin had meant was for her to lie down on their bedroom, but nonetheless, he was still pleased by what she did. Slowly, he could feel the pink rising in his face, but he ignored it, and just placed his arms around Kumiko. She snuggled closer to him, and then shifted her position, facing him instead, and it seemed so difficult to her that in the end he just drew her into his arms. Now she was sitting on his lap, her head still resting on the crook of his neck, his arms around her, his nose full of her hair. The situation was so familiar that he strained in an effort to remember it. Scrunching up his face, Shin couldn't remember anything. Taking a deep breath, he happened to smell Kumiko's hair, too.

That was when he finally remembered. Images of what happened last night replayed itself in Shin's mind. It was as if he was just a third person spectator as he remembered the unfolding of events last night.

_Her crying…him tipping up her chin…him apologizing…the hug…them drinking…a drinking challenge that came out from nowhere…a worthless argument…him tickling her…and…_ Shin's eyes widened in horror.

[flashback

She was laughing and screaming and exclaiming "Stop!" all at the same time, and when she said, "I give up! I give up! I give up!" Shin stopped tickling her. But he did not get up; he just froze in his position on top of her, his forearms braced on the floor on both sides of her face as his only support, so as not to squish her. Their faces were just inches from each other. His gaze roved from her unruly black hair to her bright eyes to her flushed face…and finally resting on wet, pink lips. He looked back into her eyes, vulnerable and also looking back at him, and said in a whisper, "I love you."

[end of flashback

_I confessed! _It was as if his mind exploded. Then he remembered another thing.

[flashback

Kumiko saw Shin's eyes drop from her face to her lips, and she was so disoriented and entranced by their position (and by the fact that she was drunk) that she stared back at him. It was all so quiet, and she heard him perfectly when he confessed.

"I love you, too." She replied.

[end of flashback

Shin could not help grinning at that sudden memory. So he had confessed, and she had, too. Stroking her hair, he willed for her to wake up so that he could tell her what happened last night, look into her eyes and kiss her…_Wait, kiss._ He thought, as another memory seared into his mind.

[flashback

After that exchange of words, they stared at each other for what seemed like a very long time. A second later, their lips met in a passionate kiss.

Chaste at first, it gave way to more cravings, and soon his tongue was probing her mouth and she was responding back to his kisses, pressing herself to him, her fingers in his hair, clutching it tightly.

He tore his mouth away from hers and kissed her neck, pulling her sweater and shirt over her head. She, in turn, pulled his own shirt off through his head. He stood up, planning to carry her to the bed, but when he lifted her into his arms, his knees wobbled because of lightheadedness and a drink too many. With great effort he laid her on the bed. He settled himself beside her, kissing her neck once more, but his eyelids were beginning to droop, then they closed. He struggled to open them once more, and he saw that she was asleep. Too tired and sleepy to react, he drifted into his own slumber.

[end of flashback

In horror, Shin had stopped stroking Kumiko's hair. _Did she also remember what happened? She had a worse hangover than I did… is it possible that she remembered?_ He looked down at her slumbering figure, and thought, _that's why she seemed distant today. I don't know. It may be that she was distant because she knew what actually happened and was disappointed that I didn't, or she also didn't remember what happened and was just shocked to find ourselves half naked, lying in bed together. She might have even thought we did—_Shin's eyes widened as he took a sharp intake of breath. _But we didn't! I know we didn't!_

Resolving to talk everything over with Kumiko once she woke up, he carried her over gently to their bedroom and left her on the bed, covering her with a set of blankets before closing the door gently. In the hallway, he looked back at the closed door and sighed, running his hands through his hair.

_I told her I love her, and she told me that she did, too. Then why do I feel a bit unnerved rather than happy that we finally confessed? And did she remember anything or not? I don't know what to want, because if she did remember, then it would just mean she denies that she said she loves me. On the other hand, I wouldn't want her not to remember that we confessed to each other though. Do I even want her to remember? _

Smiling sadly, he said aloud, "Well, I guess I'll just have to wait for her to wake up before I come to any conclusions."

With that, he left.

------

Inside the bedroom, Kumiko was also having dreams on what happened. Tossing and turning, she was having fervent recollections on what happened last night.

_Shin stopped tickling her. But he did not get up; he just froze in his position on top of her, his forearms braced on the floor on both sides of her face as his only support, so as not to squish her. Their faces were just inches from each other. His gaze roved from her unruly black hair to her bright eyes to her flushed face…and finally resting on wet, pink lips. He looked back into her eyes, vulnerable and also looking back at him, and said in a whisper, "I love you."_

_It was all so quiet, and she heard him perfectly when he confessed._

"_I love you, too." She replied._

_Chaste at first, the kiss they shared gave way to more cravings, and soon his tongue was probing her mouth and she was responding back to his kisses, pressing herself to him, her fingers in his hair, clutching it tightly._

_He tore his mouth away from hers and kissed her neck, pulling her sweater and shirt over her head. She, in turn, pulled his own shirt off through his head. Then the kisses stopped, and she felt someone bring her to the bed, someone kissing her neck, then she fell fast asleep. In the throes of slumber, she felt someone looking at her, and then plopping down on the bed beside her, seeming to sleep, too._

"Oh!" Kumiko exclaimed, sitting up. Her face was all sweaty, her head was throbbing, her body felt as if it was dragged all over the world, and she felt hot all over. _Was that what happened last night?_ Her eyes were wide, and she frantically searched for any assurance about the truth. It came in the form of Shin, who had come running into the bedroom once he heard Kumiko exclaim.

Breathing hard and gasping for air, she turned to Shin, "GASP! Wh-What h-happ- GASP! happened l-la-last GASP! ni-night? GASP!"

She could see Shin's troubled gaze, and his hand feeling her forehead, "You have a fever." He added in a soothing voice, "Now lie back down, and don't think of anything else."

"B-But GASP! w-what ab-about GASP!—"

"Kumiko," he said in a light chastising tone. "Go back to sleep, think of nothing else, I'll take care of you."

Kumiko obeyed. Somehow, somehow, when Shin said that he'd take care of her, she believed he would.

------

Kumiko was running a fever for the whole day and into the night, and Shin stayed by her side, bathing her face with cold compresses, and waking her up when it was time for her to eat and take her medicine.

Kuroda stopped by often, and insisted that he take over for a few hours, but Shin would have none of it. Reflecting, he thought that the young man was indeed perfect for his granddaughter—he saw the unflagging devotion he gave her. On a sad note, however, he felt that he was being pushed away from the duties he once did for her—one of which was taking care of her when she got sick.

------

It was the morning of the next day when finally Kumiko's fever subsided, and she woke up that afternoon, to find Shin sleeping beside her. He was sitting on a chair he pulled up by the bed; his head face down near her, and his hand clutching her own.

Kumiko smiled faintly. She was now well, and able to get up. Sitting up, she remembered her dreams. _Was that really what happened the night we got drunk? _The smile never went away. _I guess I'll just have to confirm it when Shin wakes up. It was a good thing we didn't really do anything else except_, her face turned red,_ except kiss and get each other half naked._ She stifled a laugh, and the red returned to her face when she realized another thing. _And confess._

Slowly, she took her hand from Shin's grasp and went to prepare tea.

------

"Wha—" When he woke up, Shin was surprised to find himself asleep. He mentally reprimanded himself for being unable to look after Kumiko. _Wait. Kumiko?_ His eyes widened in alarm when he saw that she was no longer at the bed. Standing up, he looked around.

"Good afternoon." He turned to see Kumiko standing at the doorway. She was sipping a mug of tea and holding another one. She went over to him and gave him the second mug.

"Thanks," He said gratefully, then eyed her. She was sitting down on the bed and a small smile was playing in her lips. "Aren't you supposed to be sick?" Shin asked her.

The smile widened and she said, "Well, I'm okay now. You should get some sleep, too." She ruffled his already-mussed hair, and Shin felt like a kid. But what she did next made him feel better. Leaning over, she kissed him on the lips. Then she stood up and turned to leave the room, "Get your sleep."

Shin turned red, but he stopped her, holding her arm just as she was about to go, "We have to talk."

_So he remembers, too. _Kumiko turned around, and the small smile was still there, along with a little touch of pink on her cheeks. She nodded, and sat back down on the bed.

"I don't think this setting is conducive for this talk at all." Shin said, eyeing the bed. He looked at her, "Do you mind if we talk at the living room?"

Laughing a little, Kumiko shook her head. Taking his hand, she led the way to the living room.

------

At the living room, Kumiko chose to sit down on the couch. She tugged lightly on Shin's hand, and he obeyed, sitting down beside her. The small smile was still playing on her face as she turned to him and asked, "Well, what are we going to talk about?"

_She hasn't let go of my hand,_ noted Shin. He was still unable to fight the red that was always creeping into his cheeks when he was in close proximity of Kumiko.

"Well?" Kumiko repeated, and Shin pulled out of his stupor.

"Um," he began.

Chuckling, Kumiko, who was also pink, said, "Well then, I'm going to be the one to start, okay?"

Shin nodded, unable to do much.

"Do you remember what happened last night?"

Shin nodded.

"When?" Kumiko was afraid to ask this question.

"Right after you fell asleep on me and before you got your fever."

"I fell asleep _on you?_" Kumiko gawked.

Shin nodded, grinning at her expression. "When did you remember?"

"I dreamt about it right before you ran into my bedroom. It was the reason why I exclaimed, and part of the reason why I had the fever, I guess."

"Well, _I'm sorry_ the memory of you and me kissing got you a fever!" Shin said, and then he clamped a hand over his mouth. "But I'm really sorry I got you drunk. I'm convinced that's the reason you got the biggest hangover and then a fever afterwards." He continued, with his hand still clamped over his mouth.

Kumiko giggled and pried his hand off his mouth, then gave him another peck on the lips.

Silence, but not of the uncomfortable sort as they tightened their hand-holding.

"Weell…" She started.

Then Shin cleared his throat and said, "This is so awkward. But then, since you have remembered last night's episode the same way I remember it, I guess it is okay to do this, then." Then he faced Kumiko and kissed her. Not just a peck—a fervent kiss.

Kumiko was quite surprised, because she never saw it coming. After a few moments and she still wasn't responding, Shin pulled away. Eyes reflecting confusion and hurt, he stared back at her. Kumiko's eyes were wide, and her face frozen. Then the small smile she had held since earlier came back, slowly. She slid her arms around Shin's neck and pulled his face down.

Shin grinned, and said, "Love you," before his face descended down.

"Me, too." Kumiko mumbled against his lips.

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AN: Tadaah! I'm baack! Thank you for everyone who reviewed the past chapter, and hugs to everyone who has constantly reviewed and read everything. We're in for a celebration since I have surpassed a hundred reviews! Chocolate bars for everyone! THANK YOU FOR sticking with me even if I sometimes disappoint you. And speaking about disappointment, gomen for updating so late! And I'm also sorry if this isn't the best and longest chapter, it's mostly flashback scenes of the last chapter times two…I have to admit, I'm in a bit of age matters? writer's block. I need inspiration and ideas about what to do guys, do tell me! Um, in the form of reviews? Or you could private message me. –grins- I think we only need 5 or more chapters to go. I think. We'll see! Thank you for reading and please review! Rhia


	10. A New Routine

Disclaimer: I do not own Gokusen.

Age Matters?

Chapter 10

A New Routine

It was a new day for both Shin and Kumiko. Moreover, it symbolized a new beginning.

Kumiko sat up and blinked as a ray of sunlight hit her eyes. She was fully awake now, mainly because of the light. The other reason was because her alarm clock was ringing.

"Work," she muttered to herself, and proceeded to get out of the covers that shielded her. She was starting to sit up, and shock filled her as she realized she was stark naked.

"What the—," she started to exclaim, half sitting up and using an elbow to support herself, when she felt someone stir beside her. Her head turned sideways abruptly to see Shin mumbling to himself, his eyes still closed.

Kumiko turned red and immediately snatched the covers up to her chin. The color deepened when Shin reached out a hand to her, embracing her and pulling her down to him, all the while murmuring her name. She couldn't react—she was frozen. She let herself be pulled down.

That was then that she realized that Shin was naked too.

She stifled a scream, and while her heart was pounding she began to take in deep breaths, recalling and rationalizing the events that had happened before she discovered herself and her husband in a…compromising situation.

_Wait. Husband?_ She thought. And the events from last night replayed on her mind. _That's right!_ She resisted the urge to slap herself silly and instead settled her head on the said husband's chest, feeling herself fall back into sleep almost immediately.

It was about thirty minutes later when Kumiko woke up again, and she happened to glance at the clock.

"A quarter before eight! Shin we're going to be late!" She exclaimed, shoving him awake, never bothering with the sheets anymore because of panic.

Shin woke up and blinked, then reddened upon seeing Kumiko. "Kumiko," he coughed. "You don't have any clothes on."

"What?" Kumiko looked down then pulled up the sheets and wrapped them around her. "There's no time to blush, we're going to be late!" She exclaimed again, and grabbed her bathrobe and towel and hurriedly went to the bathroom.

Shin scratched his chin and gaped at the sight of—_what is that on the sheets? Blood? _Shin's eyes widened. _Whose blood is that?!_

------

With the start of that new day came the start of a new routine. Actually, it was still the old routine, just inserted with a snippet of endearment here and a pinch more of openness there.

With the exception of that disastrous first day where the both of them were awfully late, and thus had to rush everything, the routine went on like this:

Every morning upon waking up they would go down to breakfast together, sometimes looking fresh, sometimes looking sleepy, but obviously happy. The clan members had begun to notice that they walked closer together that their shoulders were touching. They hadn't been that close before. Nobody knew why, and didn't bother to know; they were married anyway so what's the fuss? They were always the last ones to arrive at the table now, and if anyone was later, they would have seen that at Shin's back, the fingers from his right hand, and Kumiko's left were intertwined. But nobody was later in coming to the table than them, so nobody knew.

They would get ready for work, then, and nobody would imagine the fuss that the next clan head would give her husband's work clothes. He would come out of their room with her, both dressed impeccably, even if she was just dressed in a pair of sweats, glasses and pigtails. The trademark that was Kumiko will never be lost, even if she was no longer a Yamaguchi now, but a Sawada.

They would drive to work in his car. Sometimes he would drive, sometimes she would. But she was dropped off first, and no matter what the driving arrangement was, she would always reach across her seat, and peck her husband on the lips before getting out of the car and waving goodbye. The first time she did that, he was surprised. He had never thought that he would get kisses like that again—it was a long time ago when he had them. But he was slowly getting into the habit; so much that he would meet her lips halfway in the car. They didn't care about the smiling and gossiping teachers, or about the students. A lot of the population was surprised and puzzled to see a pigtailed teacher kiss a man in a suit every morning, but the chosen few who were members of Class 3D just smirked, thinking 'Oh how Yankumi has grown up.'

The lunch surprises were also the same, though they went out more.

And Shin always waited for Kumiko outside the school every afternoon, after work.

At night, no one ever slept on the floor anymore.

Life was good for both of them.

------

But they hadn't seen a trace of Kuma, Noda, Minami and Uchi after three days.

That is, until their doorbell rang.

Shin and Kumiko were both seated on the loveseat. He was hunched over, his feet flat on the floor, eyebrows furrowed in concentration while he typed away on his laptop that was placed atop the coffee table in front of the loveseat. Kumiko's whole body was on the seat, her back leaning on Shin's side. She was reading and checking papers, and was occasionally seen shaking her head and scratching her chin. Often, she would mutter some obscenities under her breath in frustration.

"Oh those 3D kids. Can't they write something good for once?" She exclaimed out loud once.

Shin had looked at her in obvious amusement for a few moments before returning to his laptop, still typing.

"Yeah, yeah, 3D kid who is now a Who's Who in his company." Kumiko retorted. Shin just smiled good-naturedly at her, prompting her to turn around and give him a peck on the cheek.

He voiced out his thoughts, his tone amused, "What, not on the lips?"

Kumiko stuck out her tongue at him. "Nope. You're spoiled—you're kissed every weekday."

But Shin held her by her shoulders and kissed her anyway.

His hand was slowly creeping up her shirt when the doorbell rang.

Kumiko patted his head and pulled away. "We'll continue this later. Let's go get the door."

"Later." Shin muttered, and followed her, who was walking towards the door.

They were both surprised to see their four friends at the door, shuffling their feet on the ground. Shin cleared his throat and they looked up.

"Um. Can we talk?" It was Minami who spoke up.

Kumiko and Shin looked at each other before nodding, and stepped away from the door.

Inside,

"Listen, I know we haven't made any move to show you we were sorry, but we are going to. We were just waiting for your heads to cool," Shin began, but Kuma interrupted.

"No, we were the ones on the wrong. We overreacted," he said. Everyone else nodded.

"Yes, we only thought of one thing—that you didn't trust us. We were narrow-minded then and didn't think that there were perhaps a lot of other reasons that urged you to keep your ages a secret from us." Uchiyama continued.

"But we came to our senses, and came to realize that we _were_ narrow-minded. We have come to ask for your forgiveness for doing so," said Noda.

"Guys, you don't have to look so forlorn!" Kumiko exclaimed. "You know we love you!" She stood up and hugged all of them.

------

After a celebration where the best wine in the clan house was opened, Shin and Kumiko retired to their own room.

She was enveloped in his arms, her head resting on his chest. "We forgot to tell them about this wedding fiasco."

"What wedding fiasco? That we were arranged to be married?" Shin asked.

Kumiko nodded.

"Well, everything's okay now right? We're now officially a couple. So I guess there's no more need to tell them that we were just forced."

Kumiko looked up at him to see him smiling at her. She smiled back and settled herself on his chest once more. She began to close her eyes.

"Are you going to sleep?" He asked her.

"Yes," she answered back.

"Don't. I believe you said something about continuing _something_ earlier." He said, his voice low.

Kumiko laughed silently and started to tease, "Could the alcohol consumed earlier be used as an excuse?"

"No. In fact, it can be used as another reason." His voice was getting huskier now, as he slid down and his face was level to hers.

Kumiko started to giggle as his lips descended on hers.

------

The daily, nightly, weekly routine continued on for about more than a month.

One morning, Kumiko woke up earlier than she always did, and ran to the bathroom, clutching her stomach as she went. Shin woke up, too, and was surprised to hear his wife retch her guts out on the bathroom sink.

"Kumiko? What's going on?" He said, rapping his hand on the bathroom door.

"I'm _GASP _fine." She managed in between gasps and retching.

"No you're not. I'm coming in." He did, and saw Kumiko vomiting on the sink, using her right hand to hold her long hair away, and the left as a support on the sink. Immediately, he took her hair from her right hand so that she could prop both hands on the sink, and began to rub her back using his free hand.

"Do you need to go to the doctor?" He said later, when she was calmed down and was lying down on the bed.

Kumiko shook her head, and smiled faintly at him. "I'm fine." _Apparently he doesn't know what I'm going through. _She smiled inwardly; _I'm going to surprise him with the news if I can confirm it._ "But I think I'm going to skip work today and rest." She told him.

He nodded his head, agreeing. "Yeah, you should."

------

When Shin left for work, Kumiko waited for an hour before bundling herself up and heading out the door. She was stopped by Tetsu.

"Boss, you can't go outside." Tetsu said.

"What? Why?" She asked him, bemused at his actions. Tetsu had never stopped her from doing anything before.

"Because Boss Shin said so."

Kumiko raised an eyebrow. "Boss Shin?" _Since when did Shin become Boss Shin? And since when did these two become friends?_ As far as Kumiko had seen, Tetsu wasn't at friendly terms with Shin, and Shin didn't care. _Since when did Tetsu follow what Shin said?_

She could see Tetsu fighting to say something, and he blurted out, "He said it's for your safety."

_Oh._

"Don't worry Tetsu, I'm fine now, I can walk on my own, and besides, I just have to buy something at the drug store." She told him.

"I'll buy it for you, Boss!" Tetsu exclaimed.

_This guy's difficult. _"Well then, if you really want to." She went back inside a house and emerged with a slip of paper, where the things she wanted were written. She gave it to him, along with the money. "Here. And remember, don't tell _anyone_ that you bought these, and that these are for me. Okay?"

Tetsu looked at her, confused, and just nodded.

A few moments later, he came back, reddening profusely. "Here you go, Boss," he said to Kumiko, who was waiting for him. He handed her a package and muttered, "The girl kept saying to me, 'Congratulations, Sir!' and 'Please tell this to your wife, too!' I wonder what that was all about." He paused, then he looked strangely at Kumiko, "Boss, are you—?"

"Tetsu, remember what you nodded to earlier," was all that Kumiko said.

Tetsu looked shocked and dumbfounded. Then he nodded, and went away, looking awfully sad.

------

At work, Shin kept staring into space so much that his coworker, Souichi, asked him, "Hey, what's the matter?"

Shin snapped from his reverie and asked, "You have a wife too, right?"

"Yes, a happy wife and three happy kids," Souichi answered, puffing up his chest. The guy was obviously proud and happy of his family.

"Well, you see, this morning my wife began to vomit, but when I suggested going to the doctor she said she was just fine. Do you know what medicine I can bring to her?" Shin asked him.

Souichi looked at him strangely before opening his mouth.

But alas, before he could advice Shin on anything the intercom crackled to life, asking for Souichi to report to the company's main office.

Shin wondered why Souichi had glanced at him strangely.

------

"The box said wait for two hours, and so wait I did. Now it's time for the results." Kumiko was so nervous that she started talking to herself.

She went inside the bathroom, took out the thin plastic device and looked up the meaning of the strips shown. Taking a deep breath, she let out a whoop of joy, before whispering out, "I'm pregnant!"

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When Souichi had left, Shin was alone again, and went back once more to staring into space before an idea entered his mind.

"I'm calling mom!"

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Kuroda happened to be passing by a certain room in the house. Upon hearing some whispered news, his eyes widened and a grin abruptly grazed his face. He stayed there for a few moments, and after regaining his composure, he walked on, his eyes bright.

------

The General was at home—one of the rarest situations given that there was still daylight. He was just sitting in the living room, watching his wife putter around the house.

The phone rang, and he watched her answer it.

"Shin!" She exclaimed, and General Sawada rolled his eyes, for her eyes had brightened considerably.

"It's been so long! You haven't called; it's such a long time! How are you? How is your wife?...Oh we're fine here, too!...You seem to sound very happy…You are? That's glad to hear!...How is the clan and how is your relationship with them? With the clan head?...Oh I am so glad you are fine there, and that everyone has treated you as a part of their own, my son!...Kuroda treats you well, too?...I am so happy!"

At the later parts, General Sawada's ears pricked up, and a malevolent grin slowly formed in his face. He picked up his own phone and dialed a phone number he was only going to use once—a number that could call the voice mails of all his cohorts and colleagues. "It's time to move," was all that he said.

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AN: I'm sorry if it's short! We're nearing the end! Please review, folks! Oh, and could anyone tell me the schooling system in Japan? For updates and announcements, actually more of my excuses as to why I couldn't update hehe, please check my profile. Thanks everyone! Rhia


	11. The Calm and the Storm

Disclaimer: I do not own Gokusen.

Age Matters?

Chapter 11

The Calm and the Storm

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…

"It's time to move."

This was the message that two officials in the local government, four in the national government, and two rugged men in dark shades heard. The first six simply dialed a number and confirmed something, while the last two rushed off to their respective leaders, eager to execute the plan that seemed to be lolling around for months already.

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By the time Souichi had returned to his office, it was a few minutes past office hours—Shin had gone home. He shook his head and smiled, amused, "Poor guy. He doesn't have a clue what news awaits him when he returns home." He looked at his watch and grinned, "I think he has received it by now…and has gotten the biggest shock of his life." He chuckled to himself. "But after that he is going to be happy." Eager to get home to his wife and three kids he grabbed his briefcase and jacket from his desk and took the lift down to the basement level where his car was parked.

Souichi was correct; Shin was going to get the biggest shock of his life when he returned home, but not of the sorts that Souichi was talking about. Not at all.

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Meanwhile, Shin was driving home, still troubled by Kumiko's sickness, and her apparent loss of distress over it. Also, there was the look that Souichi had given him earlier, which made him wonder what everything was all about. _Souichi seemed to look at me as if I was…weird. As if I was supposed to know what was going on with Kumiko. _His eyebrows furrowed, he put his hands on his face while waiting for the green light. _But I don't know what is going on with my wife! She said its normal, but this morning she's been vomiting like there's no tomorrow…_He sighed.

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It was…a sight. The clan members couldn't believe their eyes. Their clan head, Kuroda, was…whistling. When he began to smile widely and shake hands with anyone whom he happened to meet, they thought the sky was falling.

"Congratulate me!" His loud, booming voice said, in what could only be classified as an exclamation. And was he skipping?!?! The people in the house feared that it was the end of humanity as they knew it. Their clan head never acted that way. Sure, he was a nice man, but he was a nice AND quiet man. He wasn't a man who screamed in happiness, and rarely were his emotions seen in that degree.

The whole house shook in fear. _What the hell's going on?!_

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Kumiko grinned. _Now that I have confirmed it, how do I tell Shin, Grandfather and the clan? I suppose I'll have to tell Shin first, of course when he gets home. Then the both of us can tell Grandfather…I wonder what their reactions will be? _She smiled, touching her stomach. _Shin hasn't specifically said that he wanted children, but…who wouldn't be happy if they found out their wife was pregnant? And I know for a fact that Grandfather would be really happy. If I remember correctly, he has expressed his want for grandchildren before. Right? _Kumiko expelled a happy sigh and sat down on her bed. _I hope you will grow up to be a very beautiful child, having your father's looks, your grandfather's gentleness, and an unbreakable spirit. I promise I will take care of you. Yup, I will be very careful with myself. _She chuckled, _which I guess means no more fighting practices now. I wouldn't want to miscarry._

There was a shout just as Kumiko put down the pregnancy test. Her happiness was dampened by confusion—no one shouted inside the house. And that shout sounded like someone who was being…attacked. _I wonder what's going on._ She decided to investigate, and padded softly towards the door. Her senses tingling, her body stance shifted into defense, anticipating something waiting for her outside her bedroom. She opened the door and went out noiselessly, body crouched, eyes wary. But at the last minute a thought entered her head. _The baby. I can't fight, I might miscarry. I promised myself earlier…_ This made her waver, and it was at that exact moment that a chloroformed cloth covered her mouth. Her eyes widened before slipping closed, and her last thoughts were that of the baby and of Shin.

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Perhaps it was because of the shock at seeing Kuroda prancing around that the clan members' senses were blurred. They didn't have any inkling of what was going to happen. Most of them only realized it after the incident happened, and by then it was too late that the damage had been done. Nothing could repair it at all. Nothing.

This was what happened.

Tetsu just came in from buying supplies needed for the week. After he had closed the big wooden gate he was surprised to see everyone conversing with each other, as if there were very big news that had to be told. And everyone seemed to be involved. Using his left hand to support the bulge he was carrying at his back he trudged on inside and so intrigued was he that he forgot to place the giant lock back on the wooden door.

"What's happening?" He said, confusion evident in his eyes, and one of the women from the circle that he had approached left the group and said, "Kuroda-sama is acting funny. He seems to be skipping around shaking hands with everyone and asking them to congratulate them."

"What?!?!?!" Tetsu exclaimed. The master that he knew was NOT like that. He led the woman who told him of the news away, back to the gate where they were alone, and began to admonish her. "Now, now," he said, "don't spread awfully fictitious things about the Master! He will not be able to tolerate any lies said about him, especially if these lies are so false it would be laughable if they were true!" He almost screamed at the woman who had her eyes on the ground, afraid of him.

"But--!" The woman looked up, about to protest. But instead, she screamed. Tetsu was no longer facing her—he was sprawled on the floor.

Instantly, the place was silenced.

"What, what happened?" Some of her friends rushed over to her and asked her. Her face was white and very pale, and she stood there pointing at Tetsu, horrorstricken.

Tetsu was indeed lying on the floor, his face white, his neck crooked at an awkward angle.

The other women clamped their hands on their mouths to keep themselves from screaming, too, and called for a doctor. The men became alert, and they discovered that the large wooden gate was slightly ajar. Someone ordered them to fan out, and they did, examining the whole premises for any intruder. But they were going to fail, since as they were still looking for the intruders, they were already out of the clan house, out of the gate, carrying something with them. Or perhaps, someone.

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Of course Kuroda was alerted about what happened. Immediately, he returned to his old self and barked out orders to find out who did that to Tetsu. Poor Tetsu wasn't going to make it—he was passed out cold, his neck still at that awkward angle. The doctor shook his head.

When the men of the clan returned after their search, they too shook their heads. The intruders were nowhere to be found anymore. There weren't any traces or prints that were left behind. They seemed to be professionals. The men also bore more bad news. Kumiko was nowhere to be seen, and they could only arrive at this conclusion: she was abducted.

Kuroda's eyes widened, and after taking a moment to restrain himself, he issued more orders.

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It was five o'clock in the afternoon, but the world was still bright and shining. Shin scowled out of the window of his car. Traffic was piling up and the sunny afternoon didn't match his worried mood. He began tapping his foot against the car floor, and soon his fingers on the wheel followed the rhythm. _What in the world is taking so long?! I'm worried about my wife, damn it! _He blinked. And grinned. The married man couldn't help but think that he was far too immersed in being a husband now. Even worrying came naturally to him. _It's nice to be settled down._ He thought, and began whistling, his mood changing to match the one outside.

The sun was still shining brightly as ever, smiling down at everyone, perhaps a bit mockingly to Shin, but he did not notice.

--------------

The mood inside the clan house had changed. Women were busy fussing over speedy funeral arrangements, and the men were inside the dining hall, talking, talking, talking. They seemed to be making plans for hours, but in truth only minutes had passed. The women were whispering about, some wondering what had happened, others knowing yet keeping their mouths shut. They were waiting for somebody. It seemed the men inside were waiting, too, Kuroda especially.

--------------

"Ah! At last I have arrived. That traffic jam was horrendous. I wonder what's going on in the senate; a lot of cars seemed to be heading there. Just my bad luck that I chose that route home. Was supposed to be a shortcut but I ended up stuck," Shin continued to mumble to himself as the giant wooden gate was opened for him and he parked his car. He opened the door and looked up, puzzled to see that Kumiko was not at her usual spot, waiting and smiling at him.

_I knew it, she's sick_, he thought, and shook his head, preparing himself to lecture a wife who just would not listen.

He opened the sliding doors toward the house, and found it empty. The house was quiet, too, as if the Reaper had passed by, quite unusual for a clan house that was always bustling with activity. _What's going on?_ Shin began to panic. He dashed to his and Kumiko's bedroom and found the bed empty. The panic escalating, and the feeling that something was wrong began to rise to Shin's throat, and he was surprised to see one of Kuroda's men standing before him, bowing. He cleared his throat. The man said, "Boss wishes to speak to you immediately. They are at the dining hall."

Shin fled towards the direction of the dining hall.

He was greeted by the presence of Kuroda and the few members he trusted. By the grave look their faces, something was very, very wrong.

Shin sat down silently, and waited.

"Kumiko has been kidnapped." Kuroda's voice boomed out, void of any emotion. The weight of the four words placed themselves heavily on his shoulders, and a sense of déjà vu overcame him, remembering the last time Kumiko was kidnapped. _So she is sick…_He felt rage, directed at whom or what he did not know. "Do you have any idea who?" His voice was carefully controlled.

Kuroda closed his eyes and said, "No. We have no idea."

Just then the phone rang.

-------------------------

Yasue was wiping the glasses that were going to be needed for tonight. The girls were yet to come, since it wasn't even late afternoon yet. Even Wakamatsu had gone over to the clan house. He was helping her in the kitchen when his phone rang, and a frantic Minoru called him over, saying that the Boss had lost his mind. _Lost his mind?_ Yasue chuckled. The Boss may be old, but he would never lose his mind. She was sure Wakamatsu knew that, but still he dashed out the second after he got her permission to leave.

_Ahh. But it's nice to savor the alone time I have now. _She leaned on the barman's counter. The lights were even dimmed. Yasue smiled.

The front door opened and she looked up to see a man in a suit and dark shades come in. Carrying a suitcase, he looked like a lawyer or a businessman.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but we're still closed. You can come back in about two hours." Yasue said to the man, wondering what he was doing about these places.

"I'm really sorry, Ma'am but can you just spare me this once? I've traveled far, and just need a glass of refreshment." He said, looking at her, his smile sheepish.

_Well, he seems to be a good man, respectable even. It wouldn't hurt._ "Well then, Sir, what do you want?"

"A bottle of beer would be nice."

"In this hour?" Yasue asked.

The man just shrugged.

Yasue turned around to get a beer, and felt something cold against the back of her head.

"What--?"

"Don't move." The man had the barrel of a gun pointed at her. Yasue began to tremble slightly. "I won't hurt you so don't attempt anything if you still want to live," the man said, "I'm just here to deliver a message for Kuroda Ryuuichiro."

In an instant the man's voice turned cold, and he said, "Tell him that we have the girl, and that he needs to go to this place to retrieve her." He told her the address and continued, poking the back of her head with the gun, "Remember to tell him. If he doesn't come by tonight, we'll kill her, and I'll come back for you."

The instant she didn't feel the gun on her head, Yasue turned around.

The man was gone.

Shaking, she picked up the phone.

-----------------------------

"Yes, Yasue, yes." Kuroda was speaking to the phone, using the same blank voice, his face grave.

"Wakamatsu is already on his way…Yes…Pull yourself together now…Yes…Thank you, Yasue. Now rest…Goodbye."

Shin watched him apprehensively. Slowly he put down the phone and relayed the news to them, that Kumiko was indeed kidnapped.

"Obviously this is a trap, but as of now we have no other lead and no other choice but to go." Everyone stood up, including Shin, who had been quiet ever since.

Kuroda nodded at him and Shin nodded back. Both had the eyes of men determined to get Kumiko back.

------------------------------

The clan house was quiet, as a decision was made. Kuroda and Shin were going to the old, abandoned house located in the outskirts of town to save Kumiko. Two more trusted men were going as backup, and the others were to remain, waiting for any signal—whether to stay put or to follow.

Minutes later, a black car was seen going out of the clan house.

A man drinking in the street in front of the house momentarily stopped his drunken conversation with his friend on the phone to dial another number and say to the other person, "They've left."

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AN: Heh. Hi people! *cringes from the glares received* Oh well, :D

I hope anyone wasn't confused because of my setting-skipping, and time-skipping, if there were any. And I began to read the manga, and I FOUND IT CUTE OH GOSH. So I used Yasue here, heh, but can Tetsu be the Jdrama Tetsu? Please…? Even though I just use him. *apologizes*

I have no idea how you would react to this chapter, there seems to be a giant feeling of foreboding in here that I think will continue for oh…one more chapter. And...I'm not so sure if this chapter was not up to par. It may be my worst yet, a year and so of not updating has made me very rusty when it comes to AM? Thanks. Please review guys, I need some inspiration. And I promise that I'll be replying to your reviews, as a sort of 'return' for not updating for more than a year. THANK YOU!


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